


I Get To Love You (It's The Best Thing That I'll Ever Do)

by writinggoblin



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, I mean it's a Zuko-centric fic so... what were you expecting?, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, M/M, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Zuko (Avatar) is a Good Brother, and also an awkward turtleduck, tags will be added as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:21:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28814079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writinggoblin/pseuds/writinggoblin
Summary: “The Avatar’s resurfaced."“That’s impossible.” Zuko frowned, “The Avatar is dead. Definitely, completely dead. No one has seen an Avatar in almost a hundred years.”“Correction: no one had seen the Avatar in almost a hundred years until he appeared in some nothing village in the South Pole three months ago."ORWhen The Avatar resurfaces, Zuko is in Ba Sing Se taking care of his younger sister Kiyi. He doesn't plan on having anything to do with the Avatar or the War. Apparently, the Universe has other ideas. Then again, when has it ever cared what Zuko thought?
Relationships: Kiyi & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Blue Spirit & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 190
Kudos: 629





	1. Whatever May Come

**Author's Note:**

> I’d like to give credit where it’s due and mention that I drew inspiration from ‘icarus, point to the sun’ by bi_habibi and ‘How to Disappear Completely’ by aeoleus while writing this first chapter in particular. They are both really great and you guys should check them out! I love dynamics between Zuko and Kiyi in those fics and it really made me want to write a Zuko and Kiyi fic of my own. That said, this fic is going to be pretty different from those in some important ways, and it will diverge more and more from those fics as chapters go on. Wow, that’s a long notes section. On to the actual story!
> 
> P.S. I lied, first I need to mention that the title comes from 'I get to love you' by Ruelle

“Zuzu, Zuzu, Zuzu! Wakeupwakeupwakeup!!” It took Zuko several long moments to realize that he was actually awake and not just having another nightmare. Unfortunately, this was all too real. He was actually being shaken awake before dawn after a few short hours of sleep by a hyperactive five-year-old. 

“Kiyi?” Zuko mumble groggily, sitting up. Awake enough now to actually be able to feel concern, “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Yes! You’re still asleep and you promised we could go to the market this morning!” Kiyi whined. 

“Kiyi, we can only go to the market once the sun is actually up.” Zuko groaned, flopping back onto the bed.

“It’ll be up by the time you get up and dressed and make breakfast.” His little sister insisted, grabbing his arm and pulling with all her might. 

Zuko, accepting defeat, dragged himself out of bed and into the tiny bathroom to change. The apartment Zuko had managed to rent when the two of them arrived in Ba Sing Se a little under a year ago had exactly two cramped rooms, the bathroom and a bedroom/kitchen/living room. Technically, it did have running water, but that was as far as their budget extended and it only ran cold. Kiyi almost always convince Zuko into do his ‘secret trick’ and heat the water for her when she had to wash, but he never risked it himself. Even in their apartment, he couldn’t be sure someone else wouldn’t see through the window and getting caught firebending could have serious consequences for both of them. 

So, he washed using cold water and got dressed. Kiyi was waiting for her brother just outside the door, practically bouncing with excitement. He was awake enough now to notice that she was fully dressed with her hair brushed and pulled up. Which was surprising that she’d been insisting yesterday that she didn’t know how to brush hair. 

“Good morning, Kiyi.” He sighed to her.

“Good morning, Zuzu!” she echoed happily as she trailed after him as he crossed the room to make something for breakfast. She settled herself at the kitchen table and chattered excitedly about all the things she wanted to get at the market as Zuko mentally tried to calculate if they had enough money for groceries this week. Probably. Assuming he was able to get some of the scraps of the less desirable cuts of meat cheap from the butchers again, and that some of the produce sellers would sell him the damaged fruits and vegetables at a markdown. One thing was for sure, Kiyi was definitely not getting the three new dresses and toy ostrich-horse she claimed she was going to buy.

Zuko handed her some rice topped in spices, vegetables and a fried egg. He helped himself to a portion too and sat down across from his little sister. Kiyi devoured her food ravenously and tried to keep talking around her food as she shoveled it into her mouth.

“Kiyi, remember your manners.” He scolded before taking a bite of his own food. 

“Sorry, Zuzu,” she replied after swallowing her food. Then she continued inhaling as quickly as she could. The moment she was done she started nagging him to hurry and finish too so they could go.

“Don’t worry, we have plenty of time. Why are you so anxious to go this week anyway?” Zuko asked. They’d been in the city for nearly a year now and she’d never been this excited about going grocery shopping before. Kiyi just looked at him as if he’d grown a second head.

“because the cute girl will be there, duh.” Kiyi told him

“What cute girl?” Zuko demanded, completely thrown.

“Jin, the cute girl who works at that vegetable stand. The one who has a crush on you!” Kiyi explain to him.

“Kiyi, Jin definitely does not have a crush on me.” Zuko told her seriously. Kiyi laughed in his face. 

“Come on, Zuzu. The faster we get there the longer you can talk to the cute girl before work!”

Zuko sighed but didn’t correct her. Instead, he followed his sister over to the door to help her tie her shoes. It was a mark of how excited Kiyi was that she didn’t even fuss about having to wear shoes and a coat to the market that day. On one hand, Zuko was glad she was so excited about something as simple as a girl having a crush (at least in Kiyi’s opinion) on him. On the other hand, the last thing Zuko needed right now was a date.

What he needed was a responsible adult to help him pay the bills and take care of Kiyi. Not for the first time, he found himself missing his mother. He didn’t let himself linger on the pain, though. Mom was dead. He was all Kiyi had now, and he needed to look out for her, not let himself wallow in his grief and self-pity. Which is why he smiled at his sister as he got to his feet and told her,

“Now remember, hold my hand and don’t wander off. And if we get separated…”

“Meet you by the cabbage cart by the entrance.” Kiyi monotoned, rolling her eyes. “I remember, Zuzu. You tell me every week.”

“And I will continue to tell you every week until your thirty.” He told her taking her hand and turning to lock the door behind them. Kiyi groaned and pretended to sulk as the made their way down the narrow hall to the even narrower stairs, but by the time they reached the street she was cheerful again and was moving fast enough to all but drag her brother behind her. He wasn’t at all surprised that the first stall she pulled him towards that morning was Jin’s. The girl was still setting up for the morning because it so spirits damned early. Zuko shot Kiyi a dirty look she didn’t seem to notice.

“Hi, Jin!” Kiyi exclaimed, standing on her tiptoes so she could see over the counter piled with all the different varieties of produce.

“Hi, Kiyi, hi, Li!” Jin replied, smiling at them both. Zuko waved a bit awkwardly and Kiyi continued talking.

“It’s just you this week, right? ‘Cause your dad is visiting your brother in the country?” Kiyi asked, and Zuko felt a sinking feeling in his chest. His sister could be too smart for her own good - for either of their good, really – sometimes.

“Yep! Sorry I’m not quite ready yet, I’m a bit slower on my own.” Jin sighed, and Kiyi’s face lit up.

“Zuzu, why don’t you help her! My brother is really strong.” Kiyi informed Jin.

“Nah, I’m sure you guy need to get your shopping done!” Jin told Kiyi, graciously attempting to give him an out.

“Actually, we’re here really early because someone” Zuko looked pointedly at Kiyi, who feigned innocence, “Woke me up before dawn. So, if you need help, I have time to help you and do my shopping before work.”

“Well in that case, let me shamelessly take advantage of your generosity.” Jin laughed, and Zuko and Kiyi followed her back to where she had parked her cart in the ally that ran behind the market stalls that lined the street. Kiyi took up a post on a stack of boxes nearby, studiously helping with none of the work she’d just volunteered him for.

“Sorry about Kiyi.” He told Jin once she was out of earshot. “My little sister seems to be under the impression I need a girlfriend.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s really cute that she wants you to be happy. Even if she is barking up the wrong tree. Maybe I should tell her that she should be trying to find you a boyfriend.” Jin grinned evilly. Zuko had neglected to tell Kiyi that Jin had already come around to the tea shop to ask him out weeks ago, and he had let her down as gently and honestly as he could. She had taken it really well, and Zuko was beginning to wonder if this was what it was like to have an actual friend.

“See, but if you do that, then she might actually try.” Zuko replied.

“Fine, I’ll keep your secret.” Jin sighed theatrically, “But in exchange for my silence you two need to come to that new ramen shop with me.”

“Well…” Zuko hesitated, trying to figure out the best way to say that he didn’t have the money to eat out. Jin, however, correctly interpreted his look of apprehension,

“Which I will be paying for because you are my friend and we both know your kid sister is a money sponge.” She informed him, the look in her eye leaving no room for debate.

“Thanks.” Zuko said, blushing slightly as they finished loading up the stall together. 

“No problem. Now, what vegetables do you want to get paid in?” Jin asked bluntly

“I can’t-” Zuko started, but Jin cut him off,

“You did work, and I am going to pay you for that work. Paying you in produce will be more convenient for both of us. Now shut your mouth and load up your bag while I go get Kiyi.” 

So Zuko followed her instructions and a few minutes later he had a bag full of food in one hand and Kiyi’s tiny hand in the other. The market was slightly more full now as people came out to get their shopping done before work in the morning. In the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se most people worked even on the weekends. Zuko was no exception, and he hurried to pick up the rest of his groceries. Rice, at least, was cheap and plentiful and he stocked up on that with no trouble. After that he made his way to over to Shin.

Shin was a middle-aged man whose three sons all worked for him in his butcher shops down here in the Lower Ring, though they’d been successful enough to buy a house at the lower end of the Middle Ring. Shin had taken a liking to Zuko, saying he reminded the man of his own sons, and was usually willing to sell Zuko the meat he couldn’t sell to normal buyers for various reasons reason at a steep discount. Today proved to be no exception.

“Hey, Li. And Kiyi! Good to see you both.” Shin greeted them when they entered his shop. Unlike most people at the market, who threw up their stall on market day and then took it down again that night, Shin had an actual shop with a storefront and everything. Which was probably why he could afford to help Zuko out. Sometimes, in his more self-loathing moments, Zuko reflected that none of these people would be so friendly if they knew who he really was. Still, he couldn’t help but smile as Shin ducked behind the counter and pulled put some neatly wrapped packages. “I figured you’d becoming in this morning, so I took the liberty of putting your usual order together.”

“Thanks Shin.” Zuko smiled gratefully.

“Hey, Dad, can you tell Shiro to get off his ass and actually help for once.” Shin’s middle son, Shion, came barging out of the backroom, grumbling loudly. Then he laid eyes on Kiyi and froze. “Oh…Hey Kiyi.” He said awkwardly, flushing bright red as he realized he’d just cursed in front of a five-year-old. 

“Hiya, Shion!” Kiyi replied, completely oblivious.

“Hello, Shion.” Zuko suppressed a smirk.

“If you can handle ringing Li up, Shion, I’ll handle Shiro.” Shin told his son, brushing past him into the back room. 

“Yea, yea, I’m on it.” Shion called after him, only grumbling a little. As soon as he was sure his father was out of earshot, he turned back to Zuko with a grin on his face, and Zuko was unsurprised that the next words out of the other boys mouth were, “So, I’m guessing you continue to have no idea what’s going on in the world, huh?”

“Yea, well, some of us have to work rather than gossiping all day, Shion.” Zuko told him.

“Li, you work in a tea shop. You could do both!” Shion exclaimed, clearly horrified by his friend’s lack of curiousity. Zuko just shrugged. Shion, sighing theatrically, continued, “Well, that’s why I’m here to enlighten you. Rumor has it that Sakura is pregnant and that her boyfriend is not the father. Oh, and poor Iman got arrested for stealing from one of the houses he cleans. One of his kids needs to go to a healer, and his family doesn’t have the money for it. That’s not even the craziest thing that’s been happening, though.”

“Okay, I’ll bite.” Zuko sighed, “What, Shion, is the craziest thing?” Shion’s grin widened and he leaned forward conspiratorially. 

“The Avatar’s resurfaced.”

“That’s impossible.” Zuko frowned, “The Avatar is dead. Definitely, completely dead. No one has seen an Avatar in almost a hundred years.”

“Correction: no one had seen the Avatar in almost a hundred years until he appeared in some nothing village in the South Pole three months ago. There were whispers before, but nothing substantiated. A few weeks back, though, the Avatar crushed the Fire Navy as it was trying to take the Northern Tribe. You know that thing with the moon?”

“You mean that thing where the moon went dead in the sky for nearly an hour? Yea, that stayed with me.” Zuko rolled his eyes.

“Apparently, that was the Avatar. Or maybe it was the Avatar who brought the moon back. Anyway, one thing is for sure, he was involved. He’s back and he’s fighting the Fire Nation.” 

Zuko managed not to gape or let his brain spiral at this news. He managed only the former. His gossip now appropriately dispensed, Shion wasted no more time in ringing Zuko up and sending them on their way. Zuko and Kiyi made their way home in complete silence. Zuko didn’t notice the strange looks Kiyi was giving him, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts. 

At thirteen, he’d dismissed the idea of finding the Avatar as insane. Father had intentionally sent him on a wild goose chase, and he knew it. So instead, he’d decided to try and figure out the fate of someone who had died significantly less than a century ago, his mother. He had fully expected for his search to end in a dead end or an unmarked grave somewhere remote, but against all odds, he found his mother again. After nearly two years of looking, he got two weeks with her before she died, leaving Kiyi with only her fifteen-year-old brother to look out for her. Now, the Avatar was alive. It felt like all his prayers had been answered. If Zuko could find him, if he could somehow catch him and bring him to Father-

“What’s wrong?” Kiyi finally demanded as they re-entered the apartment, shaking Zuko out of his thoughts. A living, breathing reminder of why he couldn’t go haring off after the avatar stared up at him with big, worried puppy dog eyes.

“Nothing, sweetie, it’s just strange to think of the Avatar being back, I guess.”

“What’s an Avatar?” Kiyi asked, wrinkling her nose in confusion.

“Well, the Avatar is a person. A person who can bend all four elements. There’s always only one, and once the previous one dies, the next one is born into the next Nation in the cycle. So, for instance, if the previous one was from the Water Tribe, the next one would be born somewhere in the Earth Kingdom.” Zuko explained.

“Okay, then how could the Avatar be gone? Wouldn’t another one just appear?” Kiyi asked, handing the groceries to Zuko one at a time as he put them up on the shelves.

“Normally, yes, but the next Avatar was supposed to be an Air Nomad.” Zuko said sadly.

“And there aren’t any more Air Nomads.” Kiyi said, understanding dawning on her face. 

“Exactly.” Zuko nodded.

“So how is there an Avatar again?” Kiyi asked. 

“I don’t know. Maybe the Avatar never left. Maybe some Airbender survived and has been hiding out all these years. Maybe it just took one hundred years for the Avatar Spirit to recover from the cycle being broken and reincarnate.” Zuko explained. “Now hurry up, we gotta get you to daycare before I go to work.”

“Okay, okay.” Kiyi groaned.

Twenty minutes later Kiyi was parked with an elderly woman who lived downstairs and the dozen or so kids she looked after for people in the area, and Zuko was walking into Pao’s teashop just as Pao was pulling down the chairs from the tables for the morning. The older man smiled at Zuko as he came over to help him with the chairs.

“Morning Li. At least someone is here on time.” Pao grumbled.

“Rin’s late again, huh?” Zuko asked.

“At this point, it would be a shock if she were on time.” Pao sighed. 

Zuko would never admit it to Pao, or anyone for that matter, but he loved working at the tea shop. Preparing tea always reminded him of Uncle Iroh. He didn’t have the same skill as his Uncle, but he’d been surprised by how much he’d retained from the frequent afternoon tea his Uncle had foisted upon his nephew. Every day, Zuko wished he’d taken his Uncle up on the offer to come with him into exile. Uncle would know what to do in this situation. Uncle always knew what to do. He’d tried to find Uncle, after he’d calmed down enough in the wake of his banishment to realize what a bad idea it was to be thirteen and on your own, but it had been too late. Iroh had left the Fire Nation not long after Zuko himself had and seemed to have simply vanished into thin air. 

Zuko tried not to dwell on it too much. He tried not to let himself get lost in the grief and pain of everything that had been torn away from him over the years. Kiyi deserved better than than that, so he had to be better than that. he had learned that having a goal, a fixed point to constantly work towards helped him stay in control. Focus on the goal, let everything else fall away. That’s what he did now, focusing his energy on his job rather than his thoughts.

So, all and all, the day passed pretty quickly. Zuko managed not to ‘accidentally’ dump scalding tea into any irritating patrons’ laps. He managed it every day, but somehow when he managed it the next day it still felt like just as big a win. Rin bolted early. Apparently, she had a date with some guy she needed to get ready for. So, it was just Zuko and Pao closing up that night. Pao told him he’d try and find it in the budget to give him another raise, and left grumbling darkly about firing Rin. Personally, Zuko was surprised she hadn’t been fired far sooner.

When Zuko arrived to pick her up, Kiyi jumped to her feet and rushed over, abandoning the block tower she’d been building with two of her friends. The warm glow he felt when she wrapped her arms around his waist with a cry of ‘Zuzu! Your back! I missed you!’ made it all worth it, somehow.

“I missed you too, Kiyi.” He laughed, “Did you have a good day?”

“Uh huh!” she nodded enthusiastically and proceeded to spend the entire walk home outlining in minute detail all the things she had done that day. Zuko loved listening to his sister, but sometimes he couldn’t help but looked forward to the day when she would just say her day was ‘fine’ and refuse to give any further details. As it was, she was only up to lunch when Zuko unlocked the door to their tiny apartment to find the note slipped under their door. 

He couldn’t bring himself to feel guilty for tuning his sister out as the words on the terse note jumped out at him. The world seemed to go grey around him and he felt his throat tightened as he read. The landlord was raising the rent. Again. As if some asshole slum lord who lived in the Upper Ring really need any more of the money he managed to scrape together to keep his sister fed and off the streets every month. He felt the nameless, shapeless terror of uncertainty fill him as he stood there.

“What’s for dinner?” Kiyi knew that the notes were always about the rent and was profoundly uninterested. She didn’t know how close they were to eviction. Hopefully, Zuko reminded himself, she never would. Which is why he smiled and forced himself to say,

“Pig-chicken stir fry.”

“Can I help?” Kiyi asked eagerly.

“I’ll let you do some of the mixing.” Zuko promised. Kiyi’s help always slowed the process down considerably, but it wasn’t like there was any rush. Besides, she was always so excited to help. 

So, the two of them ate a very late dinner together and Zuko told Kiyi about all the different customers who had come into the tea shop that day. Afterwards, Zuko let Kiyi help him with the washing and then they played Pai Sho together until it was time. As the moment grew closer the little girl grew increasingly anxious, fidgeting and glancing over at him as he refused to give in to her emotional blackmail.

Finally, to Kiyi’s endless delight, he put away the board and crossed the room in two quick strides. He pulled out two candles from a cabinet and settled himself cross-legged on the floor next to Kiyi, who hurriedly adopted the same pose. He checked to make sure the window was closed tight, and then set one of the candles in front of Kiyi and the other in front of himself. Cautiously, he looked around to check and make sure the shutters on the window were shut tight, then he exhaled, and both of the candles flickered life. They spent the next half hour in silence, eyes shut, breathing in and out, and feeling the flame rise and fall in tandem with their breathing.

When they were done, he extinguished the candles with a breath, and stored them back in the cabinet. Carefully, He and Kiyi slid the furniture in the room against the walls. Then, the two of them ran through the katas he knew, though all without actually bending. When Kiyi had first started bending seven months ago, it had pained him to have to tell her not to bend in front of anyone. Firebending could be dangerous if repressed, and so Zuko did all he could to teach her bending without actually letting her bend. 

After all that, he then had to herd his little sister into the bathroom to wash before bed. Then when she said she was done he went in, checked her toothbrush and towel, determined she was lying, and sent her back in to do it for real this time. Then he brushed and braided her hair, thanking his lucky stars that it was so culturally important to the Fire Nation nobility to have long hair. If he’d spent his whole life with his hair cut short like it was now, he’d be screwed.

As always, Kiyi demanded to be tucked in and to get a story. This time, however…

“Can you tell me a story about the Avatar?” She asked as she snuggled into her bedroll. 

“Okay, Sweetie.” And he told her a story he’d heard on his travels. The tale of how Avatar Kyoshi had defeated Chin the Conqueror by creating Kyoshi Island to protect her homeland. “- and the earth crumbled away, but Chin the Conqueror refused to move, so the ground underneath him broke away and he into the earth! As far as anyone knows he’s still falling!” He finished, carefully editing out the part where everyone was one hundred percent sure he’d eventually hit the ground and died.

“Avatar Kyoshi sounds awesome!” Kiyi exclaimed.

“I think she was.” Zuko told her, Avatar Kyoshi always seemed the most reasonable to Zuko, always doing what needed to be done without worrying about other people’s judgment. He envied her resolve. Zuko leaned down and kissed Kiyi on her forehead. “Now, it’s time for bed. Good Night, Kiyi.” 

“’Night, Zuzu. Love you.” Kiyi mumbled, already drifting off.

“Love you too.” Zuko replied, sliding the screen between the sleeping area and the rest of the room shut. It made both spaces uncomfortably small, but it was the only way for Zuko to stay up after Kiyi’s bedtime. 

And tonight, he needed to stay up. Zuko settled down at the kitchen table and pulled out the notice. For a long time, he sat there like that, thinking. Fifty copper pieces. Fifty spirits damned copper pieces. If rent went up that much, he’d have no way to pay it, even if Pao could give him a raise. And he knew full well that getting a new apartment would be next to impossible. For one thing, the same man owned the vast majority of the Lower Ring. For another, rents were rising everywhere in the city. The constant influx of refugees meant that there were many more people than apartments. They could to jack up prices all they wanted, people would still pay.

Which left Zuko with precious few options right now. He couldn’t let them get thrown out. If he were alone, it might be worth considering, but he had a duty to Kiyi. She needed stability; she’d had enough drastic changes in the last year alone to last a lifetime. Losing her mom, getting a new older brother, having to leave her home and move here. There was only one choice, really, and he knew it. 

After taking on Kiyi, he’d sworn he’d stop doing this. It wasn’t safe. It had been necessary a few times on the road, but he hadn’t done this since they’d arrive in Ba Sing Se. He pushed aside his guilt and stood up from the table, crossing the room. As quietly as possible, he rolled back one of the floor mats and pried up the loose floorboard underneath. From inside the floor he drew out a set of black clothes, a set of dual dao swords, and an old theater mask of the blue spirit. Finally, he drew out his dagger. He unsheathed it, staring for a long moment at the inscription on the blade. 

“Never give up without a fight.” He murmured softly. He recognized the irony in that statement now, coming as it did from a weapon taken from a man who surrendered. Still, it was advice he had taken to heart in during his banishment. He sheathed the dagger again and returned it to its hiding place. He hadn’t given up before this, he wasn’t about to start now. 

He changed quickly and left a note on the table for Kiyi explaining he’d gone out and telling her to go wait next door if she woke up before he got back. Then he slipped out the window, closing it carefully behind him, and vanished into the night. Becoming the Blue Spirit was always exhilarating. Under the mask he was free to do whatever he wanted with no consequences or responsibilities. Okay, he knew that wasn’t really true, but it felt true. 

Tonight, he had no doubts about where he was headed. The Landlord always politely included the address for his offices in the Upper Ring in case any of his tenants had any complaints or concerns. As if any of them could get into the Upper Ring to lodge a complaint in the first place. He was sure that anyone brave enough and committed enough to try had been promptly evicted. 

Zuko moved silently along the rooftops, passing stealthily into the Middle Ring, and the into the Upper Ring. The night security for the walls was sloppy at best. Years of having Ba Sing Se under their thumb had been making the Dai Li lazy. It was only once he got to the Upper Ring that he realized he had no idea where in the Upper Ring he should be looking. Eventully, he resorted to sneaking along at street level looking at all the road signs until he found the right one. Getting in proved almost insultingly easy; no one had bothered to lock the second story windows. 

Once inside, Zuko paused to think about what to do next. Zuko didn’t need much, of course, but why come all this way just to steal a paper weight the man likely wouldn’t even miss? It took Zuko the better part of an hour to find the safe, and another fifteen minutes to pick the lock. It was worth it, though, to see the rolls of coins there, copper, silver, and more gold than Zuko had seen since he’d lived in an actual palace. He emptied it all into his bag and carefully relocked the safe so there was no sign of tampering. He wondered how long it would take them to notice and panic the next day. 

It wasn’t until he was several blocks away that he realized he had no idea what he actually wanted to do with the money. Keeping this much in his apartment was risky. Not just in case it was broken into, though that could happen, but if the Dai Li decided to search the building, which happened pretty regularly, having this much on hand, especially in the Lower Ring, would raise red flags. It took Zuko less than a minute to draw up a mental list of nearly two dozen buildings in the Lower Ring he was pretty sure had the same landlord as his. He smiled under his mask

The rest of his night was spent travelling all over the city leaving little gifts labeled ‘from the blue spirit’ in people’s apartments. By the time he got back to his own home it was early rather than late, but Kiyi was still sound asleep. Carefully, he stored his clothes back under the floorboards and burned the note he’d left for his sister. He changed into pajamas and managed to get two whole hours of sleep before Kiyi woke him up demanding breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know there wasn’t a whole lot of action in this first chapter, but I really wanted to set up Zuko’s life with Kiyi before I throw a grenade into it over the next few chapters.
> 
> Also, I just love the idea of Zuko being like “I am a responsible adult who can do responsible adult things… but maybe I can ALSO be a vigilante/criminal in my free time!”


	2. Before I Called You Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know I said this was going to update every other week, but then I felt really motivated over the long weekend and cranked out two more chapters in like a day. So, this week and next week will both get updates. Yay! (Whether or not I should have been doing homework during that time is besides the point)
> 
> All of my chapter titles come from the same song as the fic title: I Get To Love You by Ruelle

It was not, despite what he told himself in the days following his first excursion, the last time Zuko put on the mask of the Blue Spirit in Ba Sing Se. Over the coming month and a half, he used his disguise repeatedly to help cover expenses. He knew it was a mistake, it made him sick to think what would happen to Kiyi if he was caught. Still, he continued his nighttime activities. He told himself that he had no alternative. Sometimes, he even believed himself.

His methods got more refined, too. He picked out some of the most distasteful scum in the Upper Ring to steal from, and he took time to identify the people and families in the Lower Ring who needed the money most. The Blue Spirit made sure that Iman had the money to take his son to the healer, and that Sakura had the means to care for her child after her boyfriend left her. It made him feel better about taking the risk if he knew he was helping as many people as possible while doing it.

Meanwhile, his real life went on, too. Jin took Zuko and Kiyi to the new ramen shop. Shion, amidst other gossip, told him about a heroic Blue Spirit who had been helping people in the Lower Ring. Zuko managed to keep a straight face throughout the exchange. He got his raise from the tea shop, and Rin was fired. In her place, Pao hired Jet. Who, Zuko discovered, was both hot and completely insane. The anti-Fire Nation rants Jet when there weren’t customers around were making Zuko increasingly nervous. He was careful to watch himself around Jet, not liking the thought of what Jet would do if he caught even the faintest hint of Zuko’s origins.

Zuko couldn’t help but feel like for once, he actually had everything in his life pretty much under control. His life fell into a comfortable routine. In hindsight, Zuko felt like he should have seen all of this for the enormous red flag that it was. He never got that lucky. It was just that, for a brief moment, he’d felt like maybe he’d deserved for things to work out in his favor.

Yea, right.

He was working a perfectly normal, if slightly dull, shift with Jet one afternoon. Pao had gone out for a couple hours, and the two of them were standing behind the counter at the back of the shop, the three or four regulars sitting around the shop needing no immediate attention. Zuko was standing with his back to the door, making very careful small talk with Jet, who was uncomfortably nosy. So, it almost felt like a blessing when Jet’s eyes widened at something behind Zuko.

“Shit!” He hissed, and then disappeared into the backroom with a panicked exclamation of, “Cover for me!”

“Yea, sure, whatever.” Zuko said to no one in particular since Jet was long gone.

“Um, Hi?” Zuko spun around, so thrown by Jet’s behavior that he was only just now realizing that it had been caused by someone entering the shop. Because Zuko was an idiot.

This feeling was exacerbated when he laid eyes on the other boy and spent a solid ten seconds being unable to get his brain past ‘hot’. He was about Zuko’s age, and every inch of him screamed ‘not from around here’. His bright blue eyes stood out sharply against his warm brown skin. He was dressed in soft leather died various shades of blue and white. Even his hair was out place for Ba Sing Se, the sides of his head were shaved with the top pulled back into a phoenix tail. Were they called phoenix tails in the Water Tribes? Finally, Zuko remembered that he was supposed to talk.

“Hi. What can I get for you?” He asked in his best tea-server voice.

“What?” The boy looked at him blankly.

“What kind of tea do you want?” Zuko repeated, trying to keep the ‘you idiot’ tone out of his voice.

“Why would I want tea?” The idiot asked.

“Because this is a tea shop?” Zuko pointed out sarcastically, not even bothering not keep the distain out of his voice now.

“Oh. Right.” The idiot at least had the decency to look embarrassed. He rubbed his face with his palms, “I’m sorry, it’s just been a really long week.”

“It’s okay, I get it.” Zuko told him, cutting the guy a break, “So, if you didn’t come in here for tea…” Zuko trailed off, looking at him pointedly.

“Actually, some caffeine would be great right now. Just… something strong, I guess?” the guy practically sounded like he was begging. Zuko nodded.

“That’ll be three coppers.” The guy handed them over easily and Zuko vanished into the backroom to brew the tea. Jet was lurking there, looking immensely guilty about something.

“Okay, why are you so scared of that guy?” Zuko asked as he went about making the tea. He knew he wasn’t as good as Uncle was at it, but it was passable at least. Jet mumbled something incoherent before eventually coming out with,

“… I had a thing with his sister. He didn’t take it well.” Something in Jet’s guilty tone made Zuko doubt Jet was telling him the whole story, but he let it go.

When Zuko emerged with the tea, the idiot had settled himself at a table near the back. Zuko noted absently that he had positioned himself with care so that he could see both the exits at once. Judging from how utterly wiped he looked, he must not have even realized he was doing it. It was just instinct. Zuko remembered how many months it had taken him to be comfortable turning his back to a door or even a window, even when he knew it was safe. He felt an odd kinship to the other boy, and even went so far as to smile at the boy as he set down his cup. The boy gratefully returned the smile.

“Thanks.” He said

“No problem.” Zuko replied.

And those were the only words they exchanged for a solid twenty minutes. The other patrons left, and Zuko cleared away their dishes. Jet still refused to emerge from the backroom, so Zuko was left standing there awkwardly behind the counter while the other boy sipped his tea.

“Okay, I’m sorry, this is just awkward.” The boy announced finally, coming over to stand across the counter from Zuko, half-finished tea in his hand.

“Yep.” Zuko agreed.

“What’s your name?”

“Li.” Zuko said, sticking out his hand.

“I’m Sokka.” Sokka shook it.

“So, if you aren’t in here for tea, why are you here?” Zuko asked, curiously.

“Well, the tea is appreciated, but I’m really trying to find something. Someone, actually. A friend of mine lost his flying bison.” Sokka explained

“His flying bison?” Zuko replied skeptically.

“Yea, here, we printed up posters. That’s why I’m in the Lower Ring, I’ve been putting up posters.” To prove his point Sokka pulled a poster out of the bag he’d been carrying and handed it to Zuko. It was indeed a poster of a Sky Bison, asking that it be returned to the Avatar. Judging by the printing job, it had cost quite a bit to make. Zuko looked up at him, incredulous.

“I’m sorry, you’re friends with the Avatar? You are aware that there are much, much better tea shops in the Upper Ring you could be patronizing?”

“I mean, yes? But a) there really far away and b) I’m broke, so…” Sokka trailed off. Zuko managed not to snap that if he could afford to buy a cup of tea on an impulse, he wasn’t broke, and instead asked,

“Aren’t bison like, ten tons? How in the spirits name did you manage to lose a ten-ton flying monster?”

“Well, he wasn’t so much lost as bison-napped…” And with that Sokka launched into the incredibly complicated story of how they’d gotten to this point. Starting, for some reason, with him and his sister first meeting Aang in the South Pole. Zuko didn’t really mind. He was bored and Sokka was a good storyteller. Also, as long as Sokka was here Jet hid in the back. “… and now we’re trying to find him. So, have you seen a flying bison?”

“No, I can’t say that I have.” At Sokka’s crestfallen look, Zuko, glancing around to make sure the shop was still empty added in a low voice, “but honestly? That’s pretty telling. Even in a city as big as Ba Sing Se, it wouldn’t be easy to hide something like that, and certainly not from the Dai Li. I know you said you’re being stonewalled, but I’m guessing your straight up being tricked. The Dai Li either have Appa or know who does.”

It briefly crossed his mind that Sokka might have been sent by the Dai Li to try and shake out traitors, but Sokka’s story contained so many ridiculous details it seemed unlikely to fiction (Saving towns from volcanos and flash floods, swamps randomly ‘calling’ to the Avatar, oh, and the giant glowing Koi monster). Besides, it was no easy task to find someone from the Southern Water Tribe in Ba Sing Se. This would be way too elaborate a sting operation to be wasted in a random tea shop in the Lower Ring.

Sokka, meanwhile, stared at Zuko for a full thirty seconds before he spoke again, apparently stunned. Normally, Zuko would assume that anyone staring was looking at his scar, but something about Sokka’s expression made him think that wasn’t it. It was kind of refreshing, honestly, not to feel so self-conscious about it.

“… I think you’re the first person who’s actually given me a straight answer.” Sokka said at last, sounding surprised “Thanks.”

“No problem. Just try not to get me arrested, okay? I don’t want to have to uproot my little sister’s life again by fleeing in the dead of night.” Zuko half-joked.

“I’ll do what I can.” Sokka replied, eyes twinkling. Then he was leaving, calling back over his shoulder, “It was nice meeting you, Li!”

“You too!” Zuko called, waving slightly before deciding it was stupid and dropping his hand. Then Jet finally emerged from the back and the rest of the day passed so blandly that by the time he went to pick Kiyi up he’d practically forgotten about Sokka and his bison problems.

Well, that is until Kiyi, amidst her usual chatter about her day on their way home, chirped,

“-and Ling, whose mom is a cook in the Upper Ring, says the Avatar is here! In Ba Sing Se! Isn’t that awesome!”

“It is pretty cool.” Zuko agreed, but Kiyi looked disappointed.

“You don’t seem surprised.” She pouted.

“Sorry, sweetie, I found out earlier today when one of the Avatar’s friends from the Southern Water Tribe came in.” He explained trying to placate her. It didn’t work.

“What! Why didn’t you tell me?” Kiyi demanded grumpily.

“I forgot.” Zuko admitted.

“You forgot that you met someone who is actually friends with the actual Avatar!?” She looked at him with an intensity that suggested she was questioning his sanity.

“Look, it’s been a long day, okay?” Zuko told her. Kiyi made a disbelieving face, but then brightened visibly.

“Do you think he could introduce us? The Avatar’s friend?” She asked excitedly.

“I’m not sure, I think the Avatar probably pretty busy. Sokka, the Avatar’s friend, only came down to the Lower Ring looking for something the Avatar had lost.” He replied.

“Did he find it?” Kiyi questioned, sounding worried.

“Not yet, but I tried to point him in the right direction. Hopefully he’ll be able to very soon.” Zuko soothed.

“Good.” Kiyi said, relaxing.

~:~:~

That night, Zuko donned his Blue Spirit outfit for his weekly outing. While Kiyi slept, he opened, swinging himself up on to the roof before leaning back down to close the window behind him. As he stood there looking out towards the Upper Ring, however, he found himself filled with a curiosity he couldn’t quite shake. What possible reason could the Dai Li have for keeping the Avatar from his Sky Bison?

He only hesitated for a moment before turning his back on rest of the city and towards the streets of the Lower Ring, where the Dai Li were sure to be lurking. It wouldn’t be hard to locate a Dai Li agent meeting with an informant; they were more common than roach-rats most nights. Taking on a member of the Dai Li would be a risk, especially since he couldn’t use bending. Still, Zuko was pretty sure he could take on a low-level agent who was on his own. He could find out where the bison was, and then pass the information along to the Avatar or his friend as the Blue Spirit. No one would ever be the wiser that he was the one doing all of this.

Surprisingly enough, Zuko didn’t encounter anyone for nearly six blocks. Once he crossed the wall into a significantly rougher neighborhood, though, it was less than a block before he found the two figures, one in a very obvious Dai Li uniform, whispering together in a darkened ally. Zuko couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Really, they deserved this if they were going to act like characters out of a bad play. Zuko dropped from his perch on the rooftop into the ally behind them. The two men spun, saw the figure in the shadows, and the informant bolted. The Dai Li agent, apparently only marginally braver, demanding in a shaking voice,

“Who are you? What do you want?” Zuko took a step forward, and before he could respond to either question, the agent whispered in horror, “The Blue Spirit.”

“It’s good to know my reputation precedes me.” Zuko intoned in a low voice, advancing menacingly towards the other man. He’d been working on his persona for when he had to interact with other people as the Blue Spirit. He was continually surprised by how often he used the acting skills he’d been taught by his mother. They certainly paid off now. The Agent scrambled backwards only to trip over his own feet. Zuko drew his swords and pointed one at his throat.

“On Spirit, please don’t kill me! It’s my first day, I can’t die on my first day!” The agent babbled. Well, that at least explained the sloppy set up for that meeting.

“If you tell me what I want to know, you have nothing to worry about.” Zuko growled threateningly.

“I’ll tell you anything, please! Just don’t kill me!” He begged.

“The Avatar’s bison. Where are they keeping it?” Zuko demanded, pressing his sword against the man’s throat.

“I- I don’t know!” Zuko snorted in disgust, and the man rushed on, tripping over his words, “I’m not involved in those sorts of decisions! I’m not really even an official Dai Li Agent! This supposed to be a simple job to get my feet wet!” When Zuko continued to stare impassively at him, the man continued, “M- maybe Lake Laogi? There’s a secret base under the lake! That’s where we get trained, and the Joo Dees and traitors get reeducated. I swear, that’s all I know!”

Zuko sheathed his swords and vanished into the darkness before the guy could remember his bending. He couldn’t help but feel like he’d probably just done him a favor, he wasn’t really cut out to be in the Dai Li. Honestly, this whole thing seemed suspiciously like a sink-or-swim test. Whatever his victim had been told, hanging around anywhere in this area of the Lower Ring after dark was pretty risky, even if you were in a Dai Li uniform.

Now, though, Zuko found himself unsure of what to do now. He’d figured out a likely location for the bison, but he hadn’t gotten any answers as to why. He could turn this over to the Avatar, but he didn’t know for sure the bison was there, and if he wasn’t then there, the Dai Li might decide that the bison was an unnecessary liability and cut their losses. So really, Zuko told himself, it would be irresponsible not to check and make sure.

~:~:~

It took Zuko much longer than he’d expected to get out to the lake. To make matters worse, it was quickly apparent that the only way in was by earthbending the entrance out of the water or waterbending the water away from the entrance, or airbending the water out of the way. Zuko, not for the first time, found himself wishing bitterly that he wasn’t a firebender.

Okay. He didn’t mean that.

It was just hard. And frustrating. So.

Eventually, an agent did arrive and Zuko was able to slip in behind him without too much difficulty and avoided being notice by bracing himself against the walls and the ceiling until the guard had closed the hatch and vanished around a corner. Dropping to the floor, it took Zuko until he reached the first fork in the path that he realized that he was trapped under a labyrinth he had no way to navigate. Well, shit. For a brief moment he considered finding and interrogating a Dai Li agent, but he quickly dismissed it. The whole point of this was to not raise any alarm bells. 

This left essentially wandering aimlessly looking for clues. Initially, this seemed like it was hopeless. The complex was massive, and the odds of him randomly stumbling across the bison seemed slim. He was just beginning to consider turning back when he first heard the sound. Something groaned, loud and low, somewhere in the distance. Even though Zuko had never actually heard a Sky Bison before, he somehow doubted that there were that many giant monsters lurking down here that could make a noise like that.

The noise continued and Zuko followed it through the seemingly endless twists and turns of the base. The sound grew louder, a broken, anguished lowing, until the whole world seemed to vibrate with the sound. It was then, as he was closing in on the bison’s location, that his attention was drawn by a cell that he was passing. The chains, the thick walls and bars it seemed designed to suspend the prisoner in midair. The entire space gave off an air of menace. It was designed to imprison a powerful bender, clearly. Zuko felt a sinking certainty as to exactly which bender would be kept in a space like that.

It was a trap for the Avatar, Zuko realized. How crazy were these people? Did they really think they could take on the Avatar? He swallowed an inexplicable fear with difficulty. He didn’t even know the Avatar; he had no reason to worry about his safety. Still, he felt an obligation to warn him. Zuko was the one who had directed them to look at the Dai Li, and if the Avatar and his team had any detective skills at all, they’d find their way there soon enough. He’d lay eyes on the bison and report both its location and the risk to the Avatar.

Zuko went maybe another hundred feet before he found the right door. He knew he’d found it even before he’d opened it. For one thing, the creature’s desperate cries were deafening, even through the thick door. For another, the doors were the largest he had seen in the tunnels so far. They looked like they would lead to the room large enough to house an animal that could carry the Avatar’s group. Zuko took a moment to steel himself and willed the door not to squeak as he eased it open. He breathed out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when it opened without a sound. Apparently the Dai Li kept their underground lair well maintained.

The appearance of an unfamiliar figure clearly spooked the creature inside, because it roared even louder, hoping to scare away the intruder. At the same time, though, Zuko could see the creature moving as far from the door as it’s chains would allow, trying to make itself as small as possible. Which was not an easy feat for a creature as large as this one. The Sky Bison was even bigger than Zuko had imagined, but clearly terrified.

“Shhh, it’s okay I’m here to help. Sokka sent me.” Zuko soothed as gently as possible, holding his hands out in front of him as he closed the door behind him. His experience with animals was limited to feeding the turtle-ducks in the garden and occasionally petting the pigmy-pumas they kept in the palace to keep the roach-rats at bay. He was not enthusiastic about his ability to calm this creature. Yet when he said Sokka’s name, the creature calmed visibly. Was it possible he could understand Zuko? How smart were Sky Bison exactly? Well, it was worth trying to tell him what was going on, if there was a chance the creature (what had Sokka said the creature’s name was? Appa, that was it.) would understand. “Listen, Appa, I’m not an earthbender, so I don’t have way to get you out of those chains right now. But I promise, now that I know where you are, I’ll tell the Avatar. I’m sure he’ll come for you as soon as he can.”

Appa let out a very different sounding groan and rushed forward. Zuko braced for a moment before the bison began enthusiastically licking him. Zuko found himself laughing and reassuring the bison as he patted the creature on the side of his head. Maybe Sky Bison weren’t so different from pigmy-pumas after all, Zuko thought gently.

“Alright, I have to go now. You only need to stay strong for a bit longer, okay buddy?” Zuko told him, and Appa groaned in reply. Satisfied, Zuko opened the door a crack, scanning the corridor before slipping back out into the tunnel. Zuko had made careful note of the route on his way in, but he mentally cataloged it on his way out too. He would need to trace this route for the Avatar and his friends in a few hours.

Getting out proved trickier than getting in. It was impossible hide his escape from the agent who opened the entrance the same way he had on his way in. In the end, he had to slip out behind the patrol and jump into the deep water beside the walkway. The splash caused them to look around, but Zuko had vanished into the dark water by then, and they assumed it had been a fish or a turtle-duck.

Zuko resurfaced, gasping, on the far side of the lake. As he coughed and dragged himself onto the shore, he found himself thanking Agni for all those breath holding contests he had had with Azula on the beach on Ember Island. Not to mention his mother’s insistence that he learn how to swim. A holdover from her childhood in a coastal town, where drowning took the lives of too many. Even so, his lungs burned from so many minutes underwater, and he spent a long time hunched over, gasping for breath. Eventually, the world stopped spinning and his breathing evened out.

He got to his feet, and slowly and carefully returned to the city. He travelled to the Upper Ring as quickly as he could and made his way rapidly to the residences of the noblest people in the city. Finding the Avatar’s house was mercifully easy. The Dai Li were surveilling the house. They probably thought it was subtle. At another time or in another place it would have been, but unfortunately for them people didn’t loiter on street corners in the residential district of the Upper Ring in the middle of the night.

It took some doing to slip into the walled yard without the spies noticing, but soon enough he was over the wall and landing softly on the grass. Or at least he thought it was soft. A moment later, however, a figure stepped mock casually out of the house, arms crossed. It was difficult to see clearly in the dark, but they seemed to be looking directly at him. Zuko froze, his heart pounding as he waited for a reaction.

“Who are you?” came the demand. The voice that made it was not what he had had been expecting. It was young, and female, and as she stepped down off the porch and made her way over could see she was considerably shorter than he was.

“I’m the Blue Spirit.” Zuko told her. She cocked her head to the side consideringly.

“True. Although I’m guess that’s not your birth name. I’m Toph. I’m the Avatar’s earthbending teacher. Why are you sneaking into our house? You did your best not to be seen by the Dai Li, so you don’t work for them. Are you Fire Nation?”

“I came because I know where the Avatar’s bison is being kept, and to warn him the Dai Li plan to use it to lure him into a trap.” Zuko told her, dodging her question carefully.

“Also the truth.” Toph said, “You didn’t answer me though. Why do you care?”

“How… do you know I’m telling the truth?” Zuko asked, thrown.

“I can sense your heartbeat through my earthbending. People always have tells when they lie. So. Why. Do. You. Care.” She sounded threatening, and despite her size Zuko had the feeling that the Avatar wasn’t being trained by an amature.

“I guess I care because the Avatar… is a person. A Person who hadn’t done anything except help the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes in the War, as far as I can tell. The Dai Li went to all this trouble to capture Appa and figure out how to hold both him and the Avatar prisoner, and they did it unprovoked. It’s insane. They could have made the Avatar an ally to the Earth Kingdom if they’d given it even a little thought, but instead they just feel threatened. They’re weakening both them and the Avatar by fighting, and it put everyone in the city at risk.” Zuko replied as honestly as he could.

“Huh. It’s not very often we meet someone who just helps us out because it’s the right thing to do. You must really hate the Dai Li.” Toph said, and as she spoke, she tilted her head up slightly. Her pale green eyes caught what little light there was. She was blind, Zuko realized. No wonder she’d sensed him through the ground, that was just how she saw.

“Trust me, I’d give anything to see them get taken down.” Zuko said, and Toph froze.

“That was a lie.” She told him suspiciously. Zuko blinked in surprise, he hadn’t even realized as it had slipped out of his mouth.

“Not really a lie, more an exaggeration,” Zuko admitted, “I have two younger sisters. I haven’t seen one of them in years, but I wouldn’t be willing to trade either of them, even if it meant putting a stop to the Dai Li.”

“Fair. I’d trade my parents in a heartbeat, but I respect that your family is probably less messed up than mine.” It was all Zuko could do to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter when she said that. He wondered if Toph could sense his mirth anyway. If she could, she didn’t show it. “So, Blue, where exactly is Appa being kept by those wanna-be earthbenders?”

“He’s being kept in a secret base the Dai Li have under Lake Laogai just outside the city…” Zuko described to her exactly how to get into the base, and how to get to the bison once they were inside. Toph listened intently, nodding. “…and I don’t know exactly how they’re planning to exploit this to capture the Avatar, but they have a cell designed pretty specifically to hold someone who can bend multiple elements.”

“I’ll pass your message on to the group. We’ll figure out what they’re planning and put a stop to it.” Toph assured him.

Zuko nodded. Then turned back to the wall only to freeze. He had no way of knowing if the spies were watching from this side. Toph sensed the problem too. She stomped, and a tunnel opened up leading under the wall.

“It’ll come out about a block from here, so the Dai Li don’t know about our little chat.”

“Thanks.” Zuko told her.

“Any time.” Toph told him, and then she returned to house.

It was almost light by the time Zuko reached his street. He resigned himself to the fact that he would be operating on no sleep today. That problem, however, was dwarfed by the one that he faced as climbed back through the window. There, in the middle of the room, holding her doll, stood Kiyi. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, and she looked at him with abject horror on her face.

“Who are you?” She demanded in a shaking voice, “Where’s my brother?”

“Kiyi, it’s okay! It’s me!” He exclaimed, pulling off his mask and hood so she could see him. Her face crumbled in relief as she threw herself at her brother.

“I was so scared, Zuzu! I woke up and you weren’t here!” He cries were muffled because her face was pressed into his side as she did her best pentapus impression.

“I’m so sorry I scared you, sweetie. I didn’t mean to be gone so long. I promise, it won’t happen again.” Zuko promised her.

It shouldn’t have happened this time, Zuko realized. This is why he’d stopped being the Blue Spirit in the first place, because it meant leaving Kiyi alone. Even if it didn’t, what if he got caught? There was nowhere for Kiyi to go if anything happened to him. As he rubbed her back and told her that everything was going to be okay, he swore to himself that he meant every word he’d uttered. He was done being the Blue Spirit. It was too much of a risk.

Even as he thought this, though, part of him reminded him that tonight he’d helped protect the Avatar. If he hadn’t gotten involved, who knows what would have happened. He’d meant what he’d said to Toph, too. He would give a whole lot to see the Dai Li defeated. Just not Kiyi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry, Zuko isn’t actually going to be able to get out of this so easily. Next week shit hits the fan and we get some legitimate plot progression. (and possibly the rest of the gaang. IDK, it depends where I decide to split the chapters)
> 
> This chapter is a little Kiyi-light, I know, but I had a lot to do in this chapter and hopefully Toph and Sokka make up for it a little!


	3. My Whole Life Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a word of advice: do not decide to rewrite an entire chapter two days before posting it right before midterms. Suffice it to say, mistakes have been made. Still, I’m pretty excited about how this chapter turned out! So I guess it all balances out in the end?

“But where were you? What were you doing?” Kiyi pressed intently, as she had been ever since she’d calmed down over an hour ago while he made them both breakfast before they made their weekly grocery run. “Come on, you gotta tell me!”

“No, I don’t.” Zuko sighed. He really did not have the energy to deal with a grumpy child with no sleep after a night sneaking around Ba Sing Se.

“Yes, you do.” Kiyi insited.

“No, I don’t!”

“Yes, you do!”

If pressed, Zuko would insist that this the not go on for the better part of an hour because he was sixteen and way too old to be having such a juvenile argument with a five-year-old. He would also deny that he was losing that argument. However, that did not change the fact that as they left the apartment Zuko finally turned to his sister and snapped,

“Look, I really can’t tell you about this Kiyi. It’s a real secret.”

“You’ve told me real secrets before.” Kiyi pouted. Which was true. She knew his real name, and that he a firebender, and that he was Prince of the Fire Nation. In retrospect, that seemed like an awful lot of trust to place her secret-keeping abilities.

“Which tells you how big a secret this is.” Zuko told her. Which was kind of a lie. A little bit. Okay, actually, he felt that admitting he’d been disguising himself at night to steal from people was probably a bad way to model behavior. Yes, he probably should have realized that before doing it, but at least he was trying to make up for it now, right?

Kiyi, it seemed, did not agree. She continued to pester him all the way to the market. Which is why they were still arguing about it when they walked up to Jin’s stall. Jin’s father, Ryu, waved to them briefly before vanishing into the back to restock some items. Jin, grinning at their continuing debate, raised her eyebrows and asked,

“What’s he done now, Kiyi?”

“What makes you think I’m the one who did something?” Zuko asked at the same time Kiyi said,

“He’s keeping a secret.” She could keep the fact that they were secretly Fire Nation royalty from everyone but not this? Zuko managed not to groan and bury his head in his hands as Jin focused her attention on Kiyi, clearly deciding she wasn’t going to get anything out of Zuko.

“How do you know he’s keeping a secret?” Jin asked her.

“He came back really late last night. He was dressed weird and he was all sweaty. He wouldn’t tell me where he’d gone.” Kiyi pouted. Jin, meanwhile, looked like the solstice had come early. Zuko did bury his head in his hands then and tried to focus on his breathing.

“Oh, I know exactly where he was.” Jin told his little sister with unrestrained glee.

“You do! Where?” Kiyi asked, clearly elated. Jin leaned down conspiratorily and said in a stage whisper,

“He was with his secret boyfriend.” Jin told his little sister authoritatively.

Zuko opened his mouth to protest, then promptly closed it again. On one hand, having a ‘secret boyfriend’ seemed like a ridiculous and complicated lie to have to keep up. On the other hand, this was certainly less, well, illegal than the truth. Plus, his brain supplied quickly, he could always fake break up with his fake boyfriend before he had to introduce him to anyone, especially Kiyi.

“Why didn’t you just tell me!” Kiyi demanded.

“Well, I’m not going to introduce anyone to you who I don’t think is awesome enough to live up to your exacting standards, am I?” Which technically, didn’t confirm he had a boyfriend at all, Zuko noted with pride. Even better, it made Kiyi look pleased and quiet down about the whole thing. Jin looked frustratingly smug, but it was a price Zuko was prepared to pay.

All things considered, Zuko was relieved when Jin’s father emerged from the back and scolded them all for holding up the line. Zuko paid quickly and moved on. Unfortunately, that was not the end of the problem, because the moment they entered the butcher shop to see Shion standing behind the counter, Kiyi immediately raced up to him, standing on her tiptoes to see over the countertop,

“Shion, Zuzu has a secret boyfriend!” She shouted. Which was the end of Zuko’s brief respite. Shion was absolutely outraged by Zuko’s unwillingness to talk about his non-existent boyfriend.

“C’mon, Li, I need details.” Shion begged as he put together their order at what was very intentionally a snail’s pace.

“I’m not telling you about my relationship just so you have more information to use as gossip.” Zuko told him.

“Ugghhh, but my job is so boring if I don’t have gossip.” Shion whined.

Zuko managed to stay strong throughout this shopping nightmare and was honestly relieved to finally drop Kiyi off and go to his boring, monotonous job. Well, it was supposed to be boring and monotonous. At first, it did mercifully live up to all his expectations of being utterly dull. Nothing more dramatic than the breakfast rush happened. Until late afternoon, that is. The teashop was having its usual post-lunch lull in traffic. Zuko was in the back, washing some of the dishes, when the front door to the shop suddenly slammed open.

“Everybody freeze!” A harsh voice shouted, unnecessarily loud for the tiny shop. Zuko, hidden behind the thin wall to the kitchen, did not freeze. Softly, he set down the dish he was holding and edged carefully over to the doorway to see if he could catch a glimpse of what was going on. As he did so, the woman with the loud voice continued to shout, “We’re looking for a dissident who’s been causing trouble around the city!”

Zuko’s heart was hammering so hard in his chest he was sure everyone in the shop could hear it. Carefully, he edged forward until he could see the three people clad in Dai Li uniforms through the door, all glaring around suspiciously. All of the patrons, along with Pao, had dutifully frozen. Jet, however, had dropped to the ground behind the counter, crouching in a pose that suggested a willingness to fight the Dai Li. Zuko took all this in without really processing any of it. His brain had frozen on the agent’s words. They’d figured out he was the Blue Spirit. He was so screwed.

“You the owner?” The Dai Li asked Pao, who just nodded mutely, and bowed. “We’re looking for one of your servers. Name’s Jet. Is he here?”

Pao pointed a shaking finger towards the counter. Jet tensed and drew a knife out of his pocked even as Zuko relaxed ever so slightly. The trio of agents bent the counter out of the way, and Jet leapt at them. The fight was brief. Jet was a better fighter than Zuko had expected, but the Dai Li agents were all benders, and had been well trained. Zuko tried not to feel too guilty for not helping as they dragged out his coworker in handcuffs. He wasn’t in any position to take the risk. Especially not without any weapons. Well, besides his bending, but he _really_ couldn’t use that here.

The moment the Dai Li had vanished from the street the handful of patrons fled. Zuko came out from the kitchen, and he and Pao shared a long moment of silence. The older man had not moved, apparently rooted to the spot, nor had he stopped shaking. They both knew what this meant for Pao, who the Dai Li had known by name.

“Do you have somewhere to go?” Zuko asked at length. Staying in the city while the Dai Li investigated you for a connection to a dissident was dangerous. If you had somewhere to go, it was best to leave.

“I have a cousin down south.” Pao said at last, “I’ll go visit her. It’ll be nice to meet her kids, anyway. If anyone asks…”

“You’re going to be with a sick relative. I don’t know where exactly.” Zuko promised him.

“I should go.” Pao still sounded like he was mentally far away.

“I’ll close up. Hopefully this will blow over and you’ll be able to come back soon.” Zuko tried to sound soothing, but he knew it wasn’t his strong suit. It seemed to work, though, because Pao took a steadying breath and began to gather up a few things.

“Right. You should take whatever is in the lockbox from today. Consider it your severance pay. Do you have somewhere?” Pao asked. Zuko just shook his head.

“No, and even if I did, I don’t want to uproot Kiyi’s whole life again. I’ll lay low, find a new job. We’ll be okay.” Zuko promised, trying not to show his own anxiety. Pao didn’t need that right now. Pao seemed to believe him, and within five minutes he had left, leaving Zuko alone in the shop.

Zuko took the time to clean up all of the dishes and throw away the perishable food out back (well, some of it, most of it he made sure to pack up in a basket in the back on the theory that there was no point letting it go to waste). After that, he swept the shop and shut all the windows tight. He was just placing the last of the chairs up on the tables when the door opened. Zuko jumped halfway out of his skin and his heart was pounding in his throat as he spun to see… Sokka.

“What are you doing here? You do realize we’re closed right?” Zuko demanded.

“Yea, I got that from the fact that all the windows were closed and the big ‘closed sign on the door. Which, why are you guys closed in the middle of the day? Don’t you people do business in the evening? I just need some help, and you’re the only person in the city who was willing to tell any of us anything last time.” Sokka said.

“I- look, I’d help you if I could, but things are… tense, right now. I can’t help you, I’m sorry.” Zuko fumbled. In the chaos of trying to cover up being the Blue Spirit, he hadn’t actually had time to consider what exactly to do about the Avatar being in Ba Sing Se. Last night he had more or less been acting on impulse, but this was a problem that actually require some thought.

The Avatar. It was insane, it had always been insane. The Avatar had been dead, the Avatar had been a million miles away and Zuko had to take care of Kiyi. There had been good reasons not to bother thinking about him. Now the Avatar practically in his backyard, and Sokka kept asking him for help. He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do about it. He didn’t know what to say to them. All he knew was that he didn’t want to be involved in this. 

“What’s wrong? Do you need help?” Sokka asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

“Why do you care? You don’t even know me.” Zuko pointed out. In his experience, no one ever offered to help without some motive. As far as he could see the best thing to do was get Sokka out of here as quickly as possible to avoid trouble.

“Well… no, but you helped me yesterday, and you don’t seem like you deserve to be in trouble… I don’t know, it just seems wrong not to offer to help. I mean, that’s what we do. Team Avatar, I mean.” Sokka explained awkwardly.

“Okay.” Zuko managed, not knowing what else to say. He didn’t know whether or not to trust Sokka’s words. “Thanks, but this isn’t something that you can really help with. And it means that I can’t help you, either. I really am sorry.”

“Alright, I’m sorry. I just don’t know anyone else I can trust in this city to tell me about the Blue Spirit-” Sokka turned to leave.

“The Blue Spirit?” Zuko cut him off, turning abruptly.

“Um, yea, we got a visit last night from some guy calling himself the Blue Spirit. Do you know anything about him?” Sokka looked slightly more hopeful.

This was a really dumb thing to do, Zuko knew. It was just… The Blue Spirit. Plus, wasn’t it better to keep the Avatar and his allies close, at least until he decided what to do? If they trusted him, then he could… defeat them more easily? Help then defeat his Father? Neither? He really needed to figure out what the fuck he was actually doing. Well, beyond helping Sokka for… reasons. He’d figure it out.

“We can’t talk here. It’s not safe right now. 222 East Niya Street, apartment 608, meet me there in fourty-five minutes. Make sure you’re not followed.” Zuko told him, because Zuko was an impulsive moron. Sokka nodded, and, looking perplexed, left.

By the time Zuko had closed up the shop and reached his building, he’d almost managed to convince himself that this plan would turn out fine. He would answer Sokka’s questions and… then he had no idea what exactly what he would do. Okay, so maybe this plan wouldn’t work quite so well if he didn’t actually have one. Kiyi, catching sight of her brother, turned away from her game of hopscotch out front with the a few of the other kids and rushed over. Her face was scrunched up in concern.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing.” Zuko sighed.

“No, it’s something. You’re home early, and you’re wearing your broody face.” Kiyi told him, frowning.

“It’s a really long story, Kiyi, and the Avatar’s friend, Sokka, is waiting for us upstairs.” Zuko pointedly did not explain. Fortunately, his sisters face lit up at the mention of her new hero, the Avatar. Another thing to add to the incredibly complicated ‘do I capture the Avatar?’ equation.

“What?! Really?! What are we standing down here for?” she exclaimed and proceeded to drag her brother up six flights of stairs. Zuko wasn’t entirely sure how she managed to be so fast, since he was more than two feet taller than her and in good shape. Really, he shouldn’t be able to be outstripped by someone so dainty, and yet when they reach the top of the narrow and somewhat rickety stairs he was out of breath and she was beaming at him and bouncing in excitement. Sokka, true to his word, was standing, a bit awkwardly, in front of the door. He looked up, startled, as Kiyi squealed in delight and threw herself forward, hugging him and nearly knocking him over.

“Um… Hi?” The greeting that came out of Sokka’s mouth sounded more like a question.

“I’m Kiyi. Your Sokka. Your friends with the Avatar, aren’t you?” She looked up at him, beaming. None of these really sounded like questions.

“Yes?” Sokka still didn’t seem sure what was happening. For some reason, he looked to Zuko for answers.

“Kiyi’s really excited to meet you. She’s a big fan of the Avatar.” Zuko explained, not quite managing to contain his laughter at the other boy’s confusion.

“Oh, I mean, Aang is pretty cool.” Sokka assured them.

“Can I meet him? The Avatar, I mean.” Kiyi pressed.

“Kiyi!” Zuko scolded.

“What? I’m just asking!” Kiyi looked up at him innocently.

“It’s okay. I’m sure Aang would love to meet you sometime.” Sokka smiled down at her. Kiyi practically glowed at this news and swept into the apartment in such a stunning impression of a princess that for a moment it reminded Zuko startlingly of Azula. Sokka followed after her, smiling a bit sheepishly in Zuko’s direction.

“She was so disappointed that I got to meet you, but she didn’t.” Zuko explained in a low voice while trying to figure out if it was a good thing or a bad thing that Sokka had agreed to let them meet the Avatar so quickly.

“Well, I’m glad she’s got her wish.” Sokka replied with a smile. He smiled a lot, when he wasn’t completely exhausted.

“Sokka, come meet my doll!” Kiyi called. Sokka came over to inspect her doll obligingly.

“She’s beautiful.” Sokka told her, “Does she have a name?”

“Her name’s Kiyi.” Kiyi said seriously.

“I thought that was your name?” Sokka asked.

“It’s so good I used it twice.” Kiyi told him steadily. As they chatted behind him, Zuko got out the supplies for dinner.

“What are we having?” Kiyi sidled up next to him, peering at the food he was pulling out, “Can I help?”

“Curry, and I think I’ve got it tonight, Kiyi. Sorry, Sokka, I know I promised to talk to you, and I will, but if I don’t cook, we starve.” Zuko must have managed to pass it off as a joke, because Sokka laughed.

“I get it, one of the few exciting things about being in Ba Sing Se is that I don’t have to catch, kill, and cook all my own food.” Sokka grinned.

“So, you’re not noble?” Zuko asked, and hurried to add, “I just thought, since you’re travelling with the Avatar and everything, that you’d be… sorry, it’s stupid.”

“No, it’s fine.” Sokka flushed slightly. “The Southern Water Tribe doesn’t really have nobles. There are so few of us in the South Pole now, and all the grown men are fighting in the war. We all just kind of pitch in where we can.”

“I guess the War has been hard on Water Tribes too, huh?” Kiyi asked.

“Yea. It’s worse in the South than in the North,” Sokka looked sad for a moment, then abruptly changed topics, “Do you need any help with that?” he asked, gesturing vaguely in the direction of Zuko’s cooking.

“It’s fine, you’re a guest. I couldn’t ask you to.” Zuko said, mustering up the vague memories from his mother and Uncle Iroh of how etiquette and politeness worked for non-royals.

“Don’t worry about it, I’d feel weird just standing here.” Sokka replied, coming to stand next to Zuko.

“If Sokka gets to help, I do too!” Kiyi declared.

So, after an unexpectedly difficult day, Zuko found himself making dinner with Sokka and Kiyi. It was good that they had started early, because with three people all attempting to cook in a kitchen barely meant for one person it actually proved to be a much slower and more difficult process. Especially when one of the three was an overly enthusiastic child and the other was from the Southern Water Tribe, it quickly became apparent, and had never cooked curry before is his entire life. Not that Zuko was really in a position to judge. He could still remember back when he’d first started cooking for himself and Kiyi. Long story short, his early attempts at cooking had not been particularly appetizing.

Compared to that, dinner tonight was a rousing success. Sure, it had taken three times as long as it was supposed to, but at least it looked like it usually did as Zuko scooped it on to a plate with some rice and the naan he’d taken from the tea shop. What was more, to Zuko’s overwhelming relief, it also tasted like curry. Plus it had been kind of… fun? To cook it with the other two? This did not prevent Sokka from turning bright red after the first bite and began guzzling water and coughing. Kiyi giggled at their guests’ obvious distress as she shoveled her food into her mouth with no concern over the heat of the food. 

“Sorry, it’s just a bit spicier than I was expecting.” Sokka managed around his coughs. Then, delusionally, he took another bite.

“Isn’t it great? Zuzu makes it just like Mama used to!” Kiyi told him, scooping another bite into her mouth.

“Is your mother secretly Fire Nation, by any chance?” Sokka joked, and Kiyi laughed, not knowing any better. Zuko managed to smile and quickly changed the topic.

“So, you had a question about the Blue Spirit?” Zuko asked him.

“Ooohhh, like the one that Shion was talking about?” Kiyi asked excitedly.

“Exactly.” Zuko told her. Kiyi grinned proudly as Zuko turned back to Sokka. “What did you want to know?”

“Right, so, who is he exactly?” Sokka asked, “What does he do?”

“He’s a hero!” Kiyi piped up.

“… Well it’s a bit more complicated than that, but… kind of?” Zuko said uncomfortably. “He’s a thief who steals exclusively from some of the scummier denizens of the Upper Ring.”

“AND helps people down here in the Lower Ring! He gave the Shans next door money to cover their rent, remember?”

“I remember.” Zuko told her, “It’s true, the Blue Spirit does give out most of the money he steals to people in the community.” And the rest went to making sure his little sister has new shoes when she needs them and a roof over her head, Zuko thought but didn’t say.

“Do you think he can be trusted?” Sokka asked at length.

“I think it probably depends. I wouldn’t, say, leave him alone in the vault of a war profiteer.” Zuko explained, playing dumb.

“What about, like, Avatar stuff?” Sokka asked.

“Avatar stuff?” Zuko snorted, then sobered, “I think you can probably trust the Blue Spirit with information or helping you find your bison or whatever. The Blue Spirit doesn’t have any love for the elite in Ba Sing Se, but… the Avatar is looking to make the world a better place. I can’t imagine he’d have a problem with that.” Unless of course he was secretly working for the Fire Nation and kept going back and forth between capturing the Avatar so he could return home and protect his sisters and regain his honor versus whether it was morally wrong to imprison the world’s last chance of peace. Or at least, a peace where they weren’t all ruled by Ozai. Which might actually be worse than war.

“Thanks. That helps. It’s just… Avatar Stuff, you know?” Sokka shrugged, completely oblivious to Zuko’s internal monolog.

“I understand.” Zuko nodded, not understanding at all. Sokka seemed to realize this, because he elaborated.

“We were visited by the Blue Spirit last night. He only talked to Toph and Toph says we can trust him, and don’t get me wrong, Toph is usually right about this kind of thing, it just makes me nervous to trust some stranger.” Sokka babbled.

“So, you decided to go to another stranger about it?” Zuko asked, more confused than before. Kiyi was watching this exchange with a rivetted expression on her face that would have worried Zuko if he’d had more time to think about it.

“I guess that is sort of weird, huh? You just seem more trustworthy than the Blue Spirit. You’re not hiding your identity behind a mask, you know?” Sokka said. Zuko definitely did not know. There were days where the Blue Spirit felt a lot more real, a lot closer to who he was, than Li did. It made him feel guilty. What the hell was he doing?

“Sokka-” Zuko cut himself off, unsure of what to say. Trying to gather his thoughts, he looked out the window. And froze. Across the street, concealed in a dark ally, almost invisible from here, was a Dai Li agent. Looking directly at them. “Shit. You need to go. Now.”

“What? Why?” Sokka asked at the same time Kiyi asked,

“Does he have to?” the whine in their tones matched so perfectly it would have been funny under less serious circumstances.

“The Dai Li are outside, watching us. You need to get up, calmly, like nothing is wrong, and leave.” Zuko told them, his heart hammering in his ears. Sokka, to his credit, did just that.

“I’m sorry.” Sokka told him in a low voice, just before he left.

“Thanks. It will be okay.” Zuko told him, not even slightly believing it this time.

Once he was out the door, Zuko went to the window with Kiyi to watch Sokka disappear around the corner, and out of sight. He was watching the Dai Li agent out of the corner of his eye, when Kiyi blindsided him.

“Your boyfriend is nice. And funny. I like him.” Zuko stared at her like she’d grown a second head.

“What? Kiyi, Sokka is not my boyfriend.” He told her.

“Well, he should be. He’s nice and funny.” Kiyi said steadfastly.

“That’s not really the- where did he go?” The Dai Li agent was gone. Shit. Shitshitshitshit-

Without warning, the door cracked inward and two Dai Li agents burst into the room. At the same time, rock cuffs firmly locked both him and Kiyi to the wall. Why were they cuffing Kiyi? They didn’t actually think the five-year-old was a threat, did they? Apparently, they did, because they rounded on the two of them and eyed Kiyi just as suspiciously as they eyed Zuko. For a brief moment, Zuko considers trying to escape. He dismisses it almost immediately though, even if he could get out, he didn’t want to put Kiyi in danger.

“Why were you talking to the Avatar’s strategist?” demanded one of the Agents, who had a really ugly mustache, demanded.

“The Avatar’s strategist?” Zuko asked, feigning confusion, “Do you mean Sokka?”

“Don’t play dumb,” mustache asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously, “What did you tell him?”

“I- he asked about the Blue Spirit?” Zuko said, deciding instantly the best thing to do was to adhere as close to the truth as possible. Without revealing anything important. He tried not to look at Kiyi, but he could hear her quiet sniffles next to him. He prayed to Agni she would stay quiet. It would be better for both of them if Zuko did the talking here. Fortunately, Kiyi seemed to agree.

“What about him?” The Agent demanded, forcing Zuko attention away from his sister and back to the conversation.

“He asked what the Blues Spirit did and if he could be trusted.” Zuko told them, not bothering to keep the fear out of his voice. He knew full well that it would be best if they thought he was cowed.

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him that the Blue Spirit was a thief, but that he could probably be trusted by the Avatar.” Zuko sent out a mental apology to Sokka and hoped this wouldn’t make things harder for his team. The memory of Appa chained up under the lake made him hope they at least succeeded in freeing the creature.

The two men looked at each other for a long moment, apparently weighing the honesty of his words. Zuko swallowed, hard. These were not the less accomplished Agents who were generally patrolling the Lower Ring, these were the master benders from the Upper one. Slowly they turned back to him, and the man with the mustache, who seemed to be in charge, spoke again, slowly this time, as if he were stupid. Zuko resisted the urge to set his eyebrows on fire.

“You will not communicate with the Avatar or his allies again. If they contact you, do not give them any information.” Stiffly, Zuko nodded his assent. The man smiled, then added, “and to ensure your compliance, we will take the child until the Avatar departs from Ba Sing Se.”

“No!” Zuko snarled as his vision went red. He barely managed to avoid breathing fire. Bending wouldn’t get him out of his restraints in time, and it would definitely put both him and Kiyi in greater danger. Kiyi’s restraints released and she dropped to the floor.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be fine, as long as you behave yourself. She will be a guest at Lake Laogai.” Mustache smirked.

“Zuzu?” Kiyi looked up at him with wide eyes as the soldiers grabbed her roughly.

“Just do what they say Kiyi, I’ll get you out of this.” Zuko promised. The Dai Li seemed to think this was a sign that he would do as they asked. They left, taking Kiyi, and only once they were down on the street did Zuko’s own rock cuffs release.

Zuko spent a long moment on the floor, fighting back tears, of anger just as much as sadness. They had taken Kiyi. If they thought he was going to take this lying down they had another thing coming. Kiyi was the only thing in the world that he actually cared about. They were not going to take her away from him. The Dai Li had, at least, made one decision much, much easier. There was exactly one group he knew was planning to fight the Dai Li and head for Lake Laogai very soon.

So Zuko shut the window firmly, and pulled his swords out from their hiding place, slinging them across his back. He didn’t bother with his black clothes or his mask. He wasn’t exactly going to be subtle tonight anyway. There was only one person who’d want to spring Kiyi. He spent a moment looking around the apartment. He doubted he’d be coming back. Eventually, he took Kiyi’s doll, some money, and the knife Uncle had given him back when he was still a prince. Then, carefully, he slipped out into the hall and across to one tiny window at the end of hall. He stood on the roof for a long moment, searching out the Agents he knew was watching. He slipped away from them easily. He had one goal in mind. He needed to find the Avatar and regain his honor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for that cliff hanger of an ending. Adding insult to injury, I am now entering midterms, so I’m not totally sure when the next chapter will be posted. Not that long, don’t worry, two weeks max, but it feels a bit mean to leave it like this for that long so hopefully sooner!


	4. I Promise That I’ll Never Leave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you left me a comment this week, please know that I read them and loved them, but I had neither the time nor the brainpower to respond in a timely manner!
> 
> This chapter is both short and late due to real life interfering with my desire to write fanfiction all the time! However, I figured you all would rather get this chapter in two parts, one coming out today and one on Sunday, than the full-length thing on Sunday.

Zuko reached the Avatar’s house just in time to see Sokka disappearing into the house, trailed by yet another Dai Li Agent. Zuko was sorely tempted to just taking out the not-inconspicuous people lurking outside the building before going in, but he realized that he would have more time to present his case if he snuck in. Which brought on a new wave of anxiety. He wasn’t exactly good at convincing people of his intentions, even in the best of times, and right now he was so angry and that wouldn’t make it any easier. Perched on the roof of a neighboring house, Zuko closed his eyes and took several deep, steadying breaths, the way Uncle had taught him, and Zuko had in turn had taught Kiyi. Needless to say, this train of thought did not help his composure very much.

Even so, he kept his mind clear enough and his body steady enough to find his way onto the roof of the Avatar’s house without the notice of any of the Dai Li skulking below. There were more here than last time, Zuko decided grimly. From the roof, it was an easy enough task to slip down to the safety of the concealment offered by the wall surrounding the house. The moment Zuko’s feet hit the ground he breathed a bit easier. The first part of this night was, at least, over. His relief lasted all of ten seconds before the ground beneath his feet sucked him downwards, imbedding him in the hard-packed dirt up to his waist. Panic filled his mind. Had the Dai Li somehow-?

“Thought you could sneak in here without my noticing, huh, Blue?” A familiar voice said. Relief followed just as quickly as panic had a moment before when Toph spoke. Zuko tried to twist to see the diminutive earthbender, but he was stuck tight in her trap.

“I wasn’t trying to get past you, I was trying to get past the Dai Li!” Zuko hissed at her, exasperated.

“Oh, I know.” Toph assured him smugly, “I just want an excuse to bury you up to your waist in dirt.”

“Why? I didn’t do anything to you!” Zuko demanded, struggling against his bonds, which held fast.

“I mean, not you specifically, I just wanted to bury someone up to their waist.” Toph shrugged as she came around into his sight.

“Well, now you fulfilled your desire, I need to talk to the Avatar, it’s urgent. Can you please let me up?” Zuko pleaded, changing tactics.

“Alright, fair enough.” Toph stomped her foot and Zuko abruptly found himself standing on solid ground. “C’mon, everyone’s inside. We’re plotting.”

Toph stomped very aggressively into the house, and the door opened with a crash. Zuko trailed after her, following dutifully into the house. Sokka was sitting with two other people Zuko didn’t know at a table in the center of the large sitting room. Both of them looked very young to be working with the Avatar, Zuko thought. He felt suddenly very exposed without his black clothes and his mask as three pairs of eyes fixed on him as he entered. That one moment seemed to stretch into an eternity, and he shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.

“Li? What are you doing here?” Sokka asked, sounding surprised and a bit worried. Toph, by contrast, turned on Zuko with delight written on every inch of her face.

“Oh, this is so much better than I thought it would be. _You’re_ Li? The one Sokka’s been gushing about?” Under other circumstances this might have pleased Zuko. Right now, though, all he could think about was Kiyi.

“Toph!” Sokka shrieked, flushing. Zuko felt himself blushing too, even though this was _not the time_.

“Yes, I am?” Zuko’s statement came out a lot more like a question.

“Nice to meet you Li! Sokka’s told us a lot about you.” said a boy who looked all of twelve. Zuko’s first thought was that he hadn’t realized Sokka knew ‘a lot’ about him to tell. The second thing that occurred to Zuko was the appearance of the boy who had spoken. He was dressed in bright orange, and bald, with bright blue tattoos visible on his head and arms. He was dressed like an Air Nomad, Zuko realized with a start.

“Are you the Avatar?” Zuko blurted out in surprise.

“Yep! I’m Aang!” The kid waved brightly.

“But you’re just a kid!” Zuko realized it was rude the moment it was out of his mouth.

“Well you’re just a teenager!” Aang pointed out, but it didn’t come out accusatory, more… like a joke. Zuko didn’t quite know how to respond to this. The Avatar, savior of the world, was twelve. Zuko was supposed to capture and imprison a twelve-year-old. He… would not be turning this twelve-year-old over to his fa- over to the Firelord. He didn’t even want to picture what the Fire Nation would do to this child, whose mere existence had made him public enemy number one there.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.” Zuko said, not at all sure it was the right thing.

“It’s okay.” Aang replied, smiling easily. Apparently, it was good enough for him.

“Can we all get back to the fact that Sokka has a super embarrassing crush on the Blue Spirit?” Toph shouted.

“I don’t have- what do you mean the Blue Spirit?” Sokka demanded, his anger temporarily deflected from Toph as he looked over at Zuko.

“I’m the Blue Spirit.” Zuko admitted. This statement was met with twenty seconds of stunned silence, in which Zuko’s brain filled with increasingly panicked and unlikely scenarios of what was running through their heads. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but if anyone had found out… Kiyi doesn’t have anyone else, and that’s if the Dai Li didn’t take her too. I just couldn’t risk telling anyone. Ever.”

“Then why are you telling us now?” asked the girl sitting next to Aang, who looked had a striking resemblance to Sokka. His sister, maybe? Sokka, for his part, appeared to be speechless.

“The Dai Li burst in just after Sokka left and interrogated me. They wanted to know what I told them. So, I did tell them, nothing incriminating, just that you asked about the Blue Spirit… and they weren’t happy. That I’d talked to you, told you anything at all. So, they took her, Kiyi, they said they were going to keep here at Lake Laogai. I know that Appa is there, and I just thought, if you were already planning to break in, it would be easier for me to get to Kiyi at the same time.” Zuko explained, tripping over his own words in his anxiety. It was good his speech instructor wasn’t here for this, she would never recover from the shame.

“Whose Kiyi?” asked Aang.

“His little sister.” Said Sokka. This seemed to persuade Aang, but the Water Tribe girl looked less convinced.

“Okay, but all we have is your word that this secret base under Lake Laogai even exists… how do we know you’re telling the truth?” She asked, sizing him up suspiciously.

“You have me, and my amazing superpowers to tell you he’s not lying.” Toph told them all.

“Besides, he didn’t have to help us. He took a risk and it put his little sister in danger.” Sokka pointed out, before turning to Zuko, “Of course we’re going to help you get Kiyi back.”

Zuko fully expected someone to raise further objections. After all, he had more or less lied to them all, or at least deceived them. They weren’t actually going to just trust him after one conversation in which he seemed to be telling the truth, right? They all seemed fine with this explanation, though. Zuko couldn’t help but be slightly concerned by how extraordinarily trusting they all were, but that was a problem for another time. When it wasn’t working in his favor.

“Thanks.” Was all Zuko squeaked out instead.

“And you can help us with the planning! I mean, since you’ve actually been to Lake Laogai!” Aang told him.

“You did actually go, right? You never actually said, last time.” Toph said.

“I did, I wanted to be sure your bison was actually there before I got your hopes up.” Zuko affirmed.

“Is Appa okay?” Aang asked anxiously.

“He seemed very upset.” Zuko admitted. “but I told him you were coming soon and that he should hold out. I couldn’t break him out myself because I’m not an earthbender.”

“I’m sorry, you talked to Appa?” Toph asked, looking skeptical.

“I mean, he seemed so upset… and I figured it couldn’t hurt? He seemed to understand.” Zuko defended.

“Of course, he did! Poor Appa, he must be so scared!” Aang exclaimed sadly.

“Oh, your gonna fit right in here, Li.” Toph snorted, shoving him forward towards the table.

Now that the Zuko issue was settled, the group immediately launched back into the debate they’d been having before he arrived over the plan. Or, more specifically, whether or not they actually needed a plan. Sokka was advocating for a more stealthy approach, whereas Toph was advocating for ‘bust in, bust out, they won’t even know what hit ‘em.’.

“I don’t care how good an earthbender you are, Toph, there’s no way you can take on the _entire Dai Li_ single-handed. Back me up here, Katara!” Sokka exclaimed, looking to the Water Tribe girl, Katara, for support.

“I think we should ask Li, since he’s the only one whose actually been there.” Katara replied. Zuko tried not to feel like Katara was throwing him under the Komodo-Rhino.

“I… think the longer we can go without getting noticed, the better.” Zuko said. “Even if the five of us could take out the Dai Li, it would slow us down. Which gives the Dai Li time to do who-knows-what to Appa and Kiyi.”

“That… isn’t a terrible point.” Admitted Toph. “Okay, fine, stealth it is.”

“The good news is getting in quietly should be easy with an earthbender.

And since you know exactly where the bison is, getting to him shouldn’t take too long. Assuming we can all keep out of sight, it shouldn’t be too hard.” Zuko told them. The look Sokka gave him when he said that, however, made him suspect that that was a big assumption.

“But how will we find your sister? We don’t know where she is.” Aang pointed out.

“Once we’re inside, I can do that. You should all focus on getting to Appa. The Dai Li know you’re going for Appa, at least at some point, so with any luck directing as much focus to the rest of the complex at the moment. You should focus your attention there. All I really need is for you to get me in and out.” Zuko told them.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you came to us for help, so we’re going to help.” Katara insisted, catching Zuko by surprise, “Sokka, Toph and Aang can handle the Appa side of things, and I’ll come with you.”

“Katara, are you sure-” Sokka began, but Katara cut him off,

“The Dai Li are more likely to be guarding Appa, so we should send our earthbenders that way to deal with them. Still, Li should have at least one bender with him. So, I’ll go with him.” Katara informed them firmly, leaving no room for debate.

Toph’s bending allowed them to slip away easily without the Dai Li noticing. Sneaking through the city with four very unstealthy people behind him was significantly more difficult than when he was on his own. It made Zuko appreciate all the time and effort he’d been able to spend with some of the best instructors the Fire Nation had to offer, back when he’d had the opportunity. The teachers his father had given him for firebending and public speaking had always been awful. But father had never cared as much for non-bending combat and stealth, so his training there had generally been less… evil. The others, Zuko forcibly reminded himself as Aang let out _another_ sneeze that rocketed him into the air, had been given no such opportunity.

Even so, by the grace of the spirits, they managed to reach the shore of Lake Laogai without incident. They waited until a patrol had passed by, and then Toph opened the hatch and they all hurried to jump down inside. The group made their way to the first fork in the path together and then the two groups separated. Leaving Zuko alone with a slightly suspicious waterbender. They walked maybe a hundred yards further down the path before Katara turned to him,

“So how exactly do you plan on finding your sister in this place?” She asked in a low voice.

“I was planning to find a Dai Li Agent, and scare the living daylights out of them, so they talk. I know it’s not perfect, since we’re trying to be subtle, but…” Zuko whispered, trailing off. He wondered if this was the sort of thing the Avatar or his companions would be uncomfortable with. Katara, however, just nodded.

“Good plan.” Katara told him softly. “Don’t worry about the stealth part, I’d give it five minutes before the others manage to cause enough of a scene to draw off all the guards in this place.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Zuko sighed.

“We don’t really do ‘stealth’” Katara shrugged.

They found their victim quickly enough, the Dai Li were making regular patrols of the complex, and in this case, it worked in their favor. The ensuing fight was short, The Dai Li Agent was fighting them two on one and Katara was both talented and ruthless. Soon enough the Dai Li Agent was frozen to the wall and frightened enough to tell them anything. Zuko couldn’t bring himself to blame the guard for talking, the look Katara gave the guard was enough to make even Zuko’s firebender blood run cold. He asked the spirits to never let her turn that look on him.

Somewhat depressingly, the Dai Li seizing a little kid for leverage over their family members was apparently not an uncommon enough event to cause gossip among the staff at Lake Laogai, but the guard, with a terrified glance in Katara’s direction, hastened to assure them that if they’d seized a child, she would certainly be in short-term detainment on the west side of the complex.

They tied the guard up with some spare restraints they found in the world’s most evil supply closet, and left him, tied up and gagged, inside. Zuko couldn’t help but be surprised that clearly literally every hall had a closet with supplies for restraining people. Sure, they had that in the Fire Nation, but wasn’t the Earth Kingdom supposed to be better than this?

The complex felt even larger and more maze-like than last time Zuko had been here, and the going had to be slow to make sure to keep out of sight. Some of the sections they passed through were pretty appalling, even to Zuko. As they passed yet another room where a Dai Li agent was brain washing Joo Dees, he could see Katara look vaguely ill at the sight.

“This place is awful. How could people do something like this?” She whispered to him once they were out of earshot of the Joo Dee’s.

“They tell themselves it’s necessary, that there’s no other choice but to do awful things. They convince themselves that they do horrible things to a few people to help the vast majority of people in the long run.” Zuko muttered darkly. He tried not to think of how long it had taken him to stop believing that, after leaving the Fire Nation. It was pretty shocking how much horror the brain could dismiss as necessary, if it wanted to.

“There’s always a choice.” Katara told him firmly, “no matter how these people rationalize it, they had a choice and they chose wrong.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Zuko replied.

“I just hope the Earth King sees it our way.” Katara sighed.

After what felt like far, far too long, they reached the correct hall. Zuko had been prepared to throw open every single door until he found Kiyi, but it proved to be unnecessary. Once they reached the hall, they could hear some-not-so-subtle sniffling coming from one cell in particular. Zuko didn’t pause for a second before he rushed over and opened the door on his very small-looking sister curled up in the corner of the empty stone cell.

Upon seeing her brother, Kiyi threw herself at him with a shriek of ‘Zuzu!’. Zuko steadfastly ignored the quiet gasp of surprise from Katara behind him and soothed his sister as quickly and quietly as he could.

“Now, c’mon, Kiyi, we need to get out of here as fast as we can. I need you to be brave for just a little bit longer, can you do that?” Zuko asked her.

“Yes.” Kiyi told him firmly, wiping away her tears.

“Okay, if we run into anyone, you stay back and let me and Katara handle it okay?” Zuko asked, and Kiyi nodded, looking stronger than before. At which point a giant BOOM shook the whole complex.

“That would be the others!” Katara sighed.

“What did they do? Blow something up as stealthily as possible?” Zuko asked in shock. Zuko tried to tell himself that he misheard Katara’s mutter, she couldn’t possibly have said ‘it wouldn’t be the first time’, right? In any case, this definitely put them on a timer now. They had to reach the others before they were overrun.

There was a conspicuous lack of guards as they made their way towards Appa. Zuko had the nagging suspicion it was because of the other groups action. This suspicion was confirmed when they turned onto the long hall to Appa’s cell to find it a dozen or so Dai Li facing off against a Giant, angry sky bison, a tiny earthbender who was even angrier than the bison, the only slightly less tiny and angry Avatar, and a non-bender who was the only one who looked like he was old enough to actually belong in combat. Zuko couldn’t completely push aside the protective feeling that bubbled up in his chest, and not just for Kiyi.

Katara opened her water skin and plunged into the fray, and Zuko advance more cautiously, since he had Kiyi to guard and couldn’t use his bending. In a moment, though, he was caught up in the whirl of rock, ice, wind and weapons, acting more on muscle memory and instinct than on thought, and keeping Kiyi squarely behind him.

What happened next took less than a second, but in Zuko’s mind it seemed to last for hours. One of the agents slipped deftly past his guard, but rather than going for him, he grabbed at Kiyi. His hand wrapped around her wrist, and she shrieked. It came out less like cry of fear and more like a war cry. The kata she moved through was flawless, under better circumstances it would have filled him with pride. The resultant fireball would have hit the Dai Li Agent squarely in the chest if he hadn’t thrown up a rock to block it.

Everything froze. All eyes turned on Kiyi, ally and enemy alike. Zuko tried not to consider how those two might have shifted, now. There wasn’t time. In the shocked silence, Zuko grabbed his sister and hauled her up onto Appa’s back. After a brief moment, the others followed, and with a jerk Toph opened the roof above them. A moment later they were flying out into the dark cold night and everyone was staring at Zuko and Kiyi.

Finally, out of immediate danger, Zuko was suddenly, painfully aware of how utterly exhausted he was after not sleeping two nights in a row. He also had the horrible sinking feeling that he was not going to be getting any rest anytime soon. Kiyi scooted closer to Zuko on the strange bison saddle, and he put a protective arm around her. For a very long, awkward stretch, no one said anything, all of them eyeing the pair warily. Eventually, it was Sokka who spoke up.

“So, Kiyi is a firebender.” Zuko tried to tell himself that this wasn’t the end of the world. He did not succeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, you will notice that the update schedule for this has changed: it now updates ever week rather than every other week. This is because I was hoping to pace myself in my writing and not let it consume my life. I have failed, and I accept it.


	5. When It’s Too Heavy to Carry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was both really fun and really hard to write because this is really a turning point in the story. It is short because it is basically the second half of the previous chapter.

“So, Kiyi is a firebender.” Sokka stated. Zuko’s brain stuttered to a halt. He knew he should respond, that he _had_ to respond, but his mind went blank.

“Hey, Snoozles, maybe we hold off on the interrogation until we’ve landed? The lack of solid ground makes it a little bit tough for me to tell when people are lying.” Toph said pointedly. This was a reasonable argument, but Zuko got the strange feeling that Toph had said it to give him a second to think. Of course, it also meant that Zuko couldn’t lie to them, either. Not that he was much of a liar to begin with. He’d never wished to have Azula’s skill for it so strongly.

The bison ride was the single most fraught and tense experience of Zuko’s entire life. Including the monthly family dinner with Azula and Father and Mother just after Lu Ten had died. The group all sat there in uneasy silence, watching each other. Even Kiyi was quiet, which was really saying something.

Eventually, Aang landed the bison in a valley well outside the city where they would be fairly well hidden. Toph sighed in relief as she threw herself onto the ground. Zuko got down less enthusiastically, and then lifted Kiyi from the bison after him. It was a sign of how worried she was that she didn’t put up a fuss over being helped. There was a moment of silence where they all sort of stared at each other, and then Kiyi spoke for the first time since the tunnels under Lake Laogai.

“I’m so sorry, Zuzu.” She sniffed, “You told me not to bend, I promised not, and now I got us in trouble!”

“This is not your fault.” He told her firmly, “You defended yourself, and you used the gifts at your disposal to do it. I’m not mad, you didn’t do anything wrong. We just haven’t been completely honest with the others, so now we need to tell them the truth.”

“But you said that it would be dangerous if anyone ever knew the truth.” Kiyi knitted her brow in confusion.

“I don’t think the Avatar, or his friends, will hurt us.” Zuko reassured her.

“Of course not! I’m a pacifist.” Aang put in. Kiyi relaxed visibly. Zuko relaxed too, it had been a shot in the dark, and he was relieved that he’d been right.

“So, you’re just going to tell them about mommy and then we’ll be okay?” She asked.

“Pretty much.” Zuko assured her.

“So, your mom was… Fire Nation?” asked Katara.

“Yes, she was. She was a non-bender, but her grandfather… was an incredibly powerful bender.” Which was true, Zuko told himself. Avatar Roku had been a powerful bender.

“So… are you a bender?” Sokka asked tentatively.

“I am, although not a very good one. I’m not nearly as much of a natural as either one of my sisters.” Zuko admitted.

“You have another sister?” Aang asked.

“Yea, she’d be fourteen now, but I haven’t seen her in years.” Zuko explained.

“Why not? Does it have to do with how you ended up in Ba Sing Se?” Aang questioned.

“It’s kind of a long story.” Zuko hazarded, only to be met with an expectant silence. He sighed and continued, picking his way carefully through the story so as not to give too many specifics. He had to admit he was Fire Nation, he did not have to admit he was the ex-Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. “Mom left when I was eleven and my sister, my other sister, was nine. Our father… is not a good person. They’d had an arranged marriage, and she didn’t have a choice in the matter. I still don’t know exactly what happened that made her leave. Mom didn’t like to talk about it when I finally found her, and Father let me believe she was dead. I don’t even know whether she left, or he threw her out. In any case, she left and went back to her hometown of Hira’a. When she got there, she learned the man she’d been in love with before she’d married Father was still there and had been waiting for her. They went to the Earth Kingdom, where no one would know them, and Kiyi was born about a year later.” Zuko took shaky breath, now for the hard part.

“Father… threw me out when I was thirteen. I decided to track down my mother then. By that time, the war had taken Kiyi’s dad, and Mom was really sick. After she died, it was just me and Kiyi. I couldn’t go back to the Fire Nation, so we came here. I got us fake papers saying we were Earth Kingdom refugees.”

“So, you’re not, like, Fire Nation spies or something?” asked Sokka.

“No.” Zuko shook his head, “Kiyi’s never even been to the Fire Nation and I don’t agree with what the Firelord is doing.” It was the first time he’d ever said it out loud, even if he’d thought it for years. He squashed the voice in the back of his head calling him a traitor. It sounded like Azula.

“He’s telling the truth, but he’s also holding something back.” Toph said, frowning. She’d been unusually silent during this whole exchange. “What aren’t you saying?”

“Look, I’m not your enemy, can’t that be enough?” Zuko asked.

“Not if you’re going to be Aang’s Firebending teacher.” Toph said.

“What?” asked Zuko, completely thrown.

“Um, yea, what?” asked Aang, “When did we decide this? I mean, I’m okay with it, I just feel like I should have gotten a say.”

“Or me?” Zuko demanded, “I can’t really drop everything to train the Avatar.”

“Pftt. Don’t be stupid, of course you can, but first,” Toph waved their concerns aside, “The truth, Sparky, what are you holding back?” Somehow, it didn’t sound that much like a question.

“Sparky?” Zuko asked, dodging. He wasn’t sure he trusted the Avatar’s mercy to extend that far.

“You’re a firebender, so your new nickname is Sparky, now stop dodging the question.” Toph commanded. Zuko steeled himself, accepting that at this point, not answering might be even more suspicious than answering.

“My name isn’t Li.” Zuko hesitated, before managing to force out the words he’d been so scared of saying for nearly three years, “It’s Zuko, Prince Zuko. My Father- My Father is Fire Lord Ozai.” This was met with shocked silence on Sokka, Aang, and Katara’s parts, and hysterical laughter on Toph’s part.

“Your saying that Sokka randomly happened to walk into a random teashop in Ba Sing Se and just happened to run into the _Crown Prince of the Fire Nation_?” Katara demanded once she recovered. Toph laughed even harder.

“I mean, I did go door to door asking literally everyone for help.” Sokka reasoned, then frowned “but still…”

“I’m sorry.” Toph choked out over her laughter, “You found me based on a vision Aang had of a flying pig in a swamp, after you found him in a glowing iceberg after a hundred years of being trapped there, and this is what strains credulity? ’Cause to me this just feels like the next step in the natural progression of crazy. Of course, we found the crown prince of the Fire Nation working in a tea shop, it’s time for Aang to learn firebending.”

“It scares me that your actually sort of making sense.” Sokka sighed.

“I thought you didn’t believe the in ‘magical destiny stuff’?” Katara asked him so smugly that Zuko guessed this must have been an ongoing issue.

“I’m a scientist, and new data has caused me to change my hypothesis. Besides It’s not magic, it’s just a weird Avatar thing we don’t understand yet.” Sokka replied.

“You guys are taking this… weirdly well.” Zuko frowned at them all. Didn’t they have any self-preservation instincts at all?

“Well… it’s not like you’ve given us a reason to doubt you. You’ve been helping us.” Sokka pointed out.

“I lied about who I was.” Zuko pressed, not sure what he was trying to do.

“If I were the son of the Firelord, I’d lie about who I was too.” Sokka snorted.

“Especially to the Avatar.” Aang put in, “I mean, I’m trying to stop your entire family.”

“Your trying to stop my Father,” Zuko corrected, “and maybe Azula. They’re not my entire family. I have Kiyi, and maybe my Uncle Iroh, if I knew where he was. I could have told you who I was before this.”

“You didn’t know if you could trust us. Besides, we’ve gone under cover before when we had to keep a low profile too.” Katara pointed out.

“Not very successfully.” Sokka put in, “But still.”

“You people are not nearly cautious enough.” Zuko crossed his arms.

“I’m sorry, it’s just hard to feel like you’re going to try anything nefarious with your little sister here.” Sokka crossed his arms right back. Zuko looked down at Kiyi who looked rather bored by the whole conversation, not to mention oblivious to the risk. Zuko sighed.

“Fair enough.” He admitted. “Although it really only applies to this sister.”

“Good. I’m glad that’s settled.” Said Toph

“Zuzu, can we go home now?” Kiyi asked, “I’m bored. And hungry.”

Zuko was starting to get really tired of long, awkward silences. He also wasn’t at all excited to explain that they were _never_ going home to Kiyi. He really had no idea where they should go from here. Could he really put Kiyi in harm’s way by agreeing to train the Avatar? Could he put the world in danger by refusing to?

“We can’t go back, can we?” asked Kiyi, realization dawning on her face.

“No, we can’t. The Dai Li will be looking for us. I’m sorry, Kiyi.” Zuko told her.

“It’s not your fault. You had to help the Avatar against the evil Dai Li.” Kiyi declared fiercely, then asked, “Where are we going now?”

“For now, we’re going to stay with the Avatar and his friends.” Zuko told her, very aware of the four sets of eyes watching this exchange.

“Good.” Kiyi said, “I have questions for the Avatar.” She purposefully marched over to Aang and dragged him off to interrogate him. Aang looked slightly intimidated by look on the face of this girl who has half his size. The savior of the world, everybody.

“So, what now?” asked Zuko.

“Well, we need to go back to the city and meet with the Earth King.” Sokka said.

“We’re all exhausted and starving, and we’ll have to fight our way past about a hundred Dai Li.” Katara said, “We should wait until morning, at the very least.”

“and I’m not bringing Kiyi into that mess.” Zuko put in reluctantly, he didn’t like the idea of sending the others in without him.

“We’ll sort everything out in the morning.” Katara stated firmly, taking on a distinctly motherly tone, “For now, you should all try and get some sleep. I’ll take the first watch.

It took a bit of coaxing to convince Kiyi to go to bed, for all her complaining of being bored, she was loath to stop interrogating Aang, who seemed all to pleased to tell her all about the Air Nomads and about the Avatar. Kiyi had particular questions about Kyoshi, and apparently Aang had been literally possessed by her at one point. She was enraptured. Sokka pulled bedrolls down from Appa’s saddle, though they were a bit worse for wear. As soon as he was sure Kiyi was asleep next to him, and not just faking it, Zuko let himself drop off to sleep, utterly exhausted.

The horrible realities of being hardwired to wake up at dawn caused him to be the first one awake besides Sokka, who had taken the last watch the previous night. Fortunately, the not-quite a full night’s sleep on the hard-packed ground with the threat of the Dai Li looming over them allowed Zuko to claw back a few vestiges of coherent thought. Hesitantly, Zuko made his way over to where the other boy was sitting on the edge of the clearing, looking half-awake.

“How are you up so early?” Sokka asked as Zuko approached.

“Firebenders rise with the sun.” Zuko shrugged.

“Your sister isn’t awake yet.” Sokka pointed out.

“True, but she will be soon. Trust me.” Zuko yawned. Sokka snorted.

“I believe it. For someone so tiny, she sure is a force of nature.” Then he paused, “Not that I should really be surprised, considering my own sister. And Toph.”

“Your sister is… Katara?” Zuko guessed.

“Oh! Yea, sorry, I forgot you wouldn’t know.” Sokka exclaimed.

“Don’t worry about it.” Zuko said.

“Can I ask… you mention your other sister. That’s Princess Azula right?” Sokka asked. Zuko nodded, “That must be… special. She’s been chasing us since the North Pole with two of her friends, the scary smiley one and the gloomy knife girl?

“Ty Lee and Mai.” Zuko told him, “and yea, Azula and I have never exactly gotten along.”

“Well, she’s evil and you’re not.” But Zuko shook his head.

“She’s not evil, not really. Just… it’s complicated. She’s been alone with only Father to look up to for years now. Even before that- we were never very close, and Mom always kept Azula at arm’s length. I think she reminded her of Father. Azula’s really been given the option of being anything besides what she is.” Zuko tried to explain, but Sokka looked skeptical.

“No offense, but you haven’t seen her in a while. I think she’s gotten crazier and eviler since last time.”

“Probably.” Given the way the last three years had played out, it was a virtual certainty. Her, alone in that palace with no one else to divert Father’s attention. Zuko tried not to feel guilty. “but she’s still only fourteen. I don’t think anyone was irredeemable at fourteen.” Zuko said, remembering where he’d been at fourteen. He’d been exiled for two years, and he’d been alone. He’d been angry at pretty much everything, most of all himself. In the end, it had only been becoming responsible for Kiyi that had forced him to at least try and be better.

“I guess not, but it’s hard to see her having a change of heart.” Sokka frowned.

“Azula is pretty determined.” Zuko agreed.

“But she’s still your younger sister?” Sokka hazarded.

“Exactly.” Zuko told him. It was in this moment that Kiyi decided to waked

“Zuzu, what’s for breakfast?” Kiyi asked as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

“Well, you were right, she’s awake.” Sokka sighed, “We should probably try and put together food, Toph is pretty scary when she doesn’t eat.”

So, the two of them got up to try and scrounge up breakfast. The Dai Li had left Appa’s saddle in place while the kept him locked up, a fact which had distressed Aang to no end and caused him to brush the creature down for several hours before going to sleep the previous night. Now they approached the saddle next to the enormous creature to try and scrounge out some food that had kept through the bison’s imprisonment. Appa yawned widely as they rifled through the bags, and promptly sidled over and began enthusiastically licking Zuko. He studiously ignored the giggles coming from both Kiyi and Sokka. All the activity soon woke the others and soon they were all… experiencing a brief meal of rice and some kind of dried jerky.

“So, do we have a plan?” asked Katara

“Do we need one?” asked Toph

“In this case, yes.” Sokka said, “we can’t wing this, we need hard facts. Long Feng will do everything he can to undermine us.”

“Whose Long Feng?” Kiyi asked around a mouthful of breakfast.

“Kiyi! Swallow first!” Zuko scolded,

“Sorry Zuzu.” Sighed Kiyi, not sounding sorry at all, “But who is he?”

“He’s the jerk who runs the Dai Li and keeps the Earth King in the dark.” Aang explained.

“Oh. Okay. So how are you going to stop him?” asked Kiyi.

“We need to convince the Earth King not to trust Long Feng, and to lock him up.” Katara said.

“Can’t you just show him Lake Laogai?” asked Kiyi, which was met with a long silence.

“Well, Kiyi is officially smarter than the rest of us.” Sighed Sokka. “Okay plan established. We bust into the palace, convince the Earth King to see Lake Laogai, and laugh as Long Feng is thrown in prison.”

“Kiyi and I aren’t going.” Zuko said,

“What? Why not?” asked Kiyi.

“Because it’s not safe, and I’m not putting you in danger again.” Zuko said.

“I’ll be fine.” She insisted, “If anyone comes at me, I’ll blast them with a fireball!”

“No! No way! We are not going.” Zuko told her. Kiyi just let out a harrumph and crossed her arms, sulking.

“But how will we find you again? When we’re done?” Aang asked worriedly.

“We’ll wait here.” Zuko promised, which satisfied the others. Seriously, someone needed to do something about their excessive trust of strangers they’d only known for two days just because of his cute little sister. Of course, Zuko thought as he looked at his scowling little sister, his sister was particularly awesome.

Aang was unenthused about putting the saddle back on Appa so soon, but the bison let out a low groan of encouragement, which seemed good enough for the young airbender. As they climbed into the saddle, Zuko suddenly realized he was letting these people go into danger without him. He tried to tell himself that they would be fine, that they knew what they were doing. Then he remembered that the definitely had no idea what they were doing, and Zuko found himself saying,

“Wait! We’re coming with you.”

“You are?” asked Sokka.

“Yes!” cheered Kiyi

“We are. I can’t just sit here. Kiyi, if anyone goes after you, you blast them with a fireball, understood?” He asked.

“I did it before, didn’t I?” answered Kiyi ask Zuko lifted her into the saddle, and Appa groaned in apparent agreement.


	6. I Can’t Believe It’s True

Things went sideways almost immediately. The Dai Li were prepared for their attempt to get into the palace, and immediately began chucking gigantic rocks at Appa, causing the bison to take stomach churning evasive maneuvers while Aang broke the rocks apart in midair. Once they landed, though, it was Toph who did the heavy lifting, with support from Katara and Aang. As the tiny earthbender took out about a hundred grown men in one move, he found himself glad that he’d never had reason to be on her bad side. Zuko himself hung back, mainly because he could help but think that firebending probably wouldn’t endear him to the Earth King.

Or it would have if King Kuei had any idea the war was even happening. Zuko had fully expected to be afraid of the Earth King, simply by virtue of the man being the leader of one of the four nations, but he was the exact opposite of father in nearly every way. The Earth King was an affable, slightly awkward man who had never left the palace and took all his advice from Long Feng. The man was clearly not the one calling the shots in Ba Sing Se. Which made this next part harder.

“Drop your weapons.” Insisted the King, at the insistence of Long Feng. The others hesitated, before following the King’s instructions. Zuko, after a moment of thought, dropped his swords. He knew full well what Long Feng would do once they were disarmed, and he was right.

“Seize them. Seize the Avatar!” Shouted Long Feng.

“Wait? The Avatar?” Zuko heard the Earth King ask, but he was already moving. Zuko drew his knife and spun rapidly, dodging the rock cuffs the agent fired at him and knocking him unconscious with a kick. Toph and Aang were both able to undo the rock cuffs instantly. Sokka, Katara and Kiyi were all stuck in the cuffs though. There was a long tense moment where Aang, Toph and Zuko stood between the bound members of the group and the Dai Li, until the Earth King raised his voice over the fighting.

“Stop, we should give the Avatar the chance to explain himself!” He exclaimed. Everyone froze, still poised to fight. Long Feng tried to obfuscate, talk the king out of it, but King Kuei held shockingly firm. 

Aang, to his credit, managed to convince the king to at least go look at Lake Laogai. As they left the throne room, Zuko caught a look of smug satisfaction on Long Feng’s face and felt a wave of anxiety rise in his throat. He kept on guard as they led the Earth King out of the palace and to the train station. So he wasn’t exactly surprised when they arrived to discover that the Dai Li, being earthbenders, collapsed Lake Laogai before they could even show it to the Earth King.

“Oh no.” Whispered Kiyi as Toph brought the fragmented pieces of the entrance to the surface. Zuko wrapped and arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him, looking worried. Their proof was gone. The Earth King turned to leave.

“Wait!” Sokka gasped suddenly, “The Drill.”

“What Drill?” asked Zuko.

“The one on the wall.” Aang said by way of explanation, which explained exactly nothing. While Sokka ran to convince the Earth King to come with. The Earth King seemed unwilling to come with, but in the end the prospect of riding on Appa convinced him.

Sokka’s plan was a stroke of genius. Long Feng came to meet them at the wall, and Zuko thought that was probably to try and control the situation. The drill was apparently a gigantic metal Fire Nation drill sticking, broken, out of the outermost wall of the city.

“Who was crazy enough to try and break through the walls of Ba Sing Se with that thing?” Zuko asked Toph quietly as the Earth King stared down at the drill In shock r He remembered how people had talked about Ba Sing Se in the years after Uncle’s failure. Who would be delusional enough to think they could succeed where the Dragon of the West had failed?

“Your batshit sister.” Toph replied over Long Feng’s attempt to explain away the giant and obvious war machine that was sitting in front of their faces. Its presence was obviously making it whole lot harder for Long Feng to argue that the war didn’t exist. The Earth King certainly wasn’t buying it anymore.

“Dai Li, arrest him!” The King ordered, and for one tense moment the two agents exchanged a look and Zuko wondered if they would side with Long Feng or the King. Then, just as fast, it was over as cuffs shot out of the agents sleeves and wrapped around Long Feng’s wrists. After the events of the past two days, watching Long Feng get dragged off in chains was, Zuko had to admit, incredibly satisfying, even if Kiyi was immensely disappointed that she didn’t get to throw any fireballs.

In the wake of Long Feng’s arrest, King Kuei was more than happy to listen to their suggestions. Honestly, the man looked a bit lost after his most trusted advisor was revealed to be a traitor and the prospect of having someone give him direction again seemed to reassure him. The Earth King’s complete willingness to put his faith in the military strategy of a bunch of random kids (even if one was the Avatar) was utterly at odds with what Zuko had been taught a leader should be. Not that the Earth King had really been a leader until now. He pushed his doubt aside, reminding himself the important thing was that the Dai Li had been neutralized and the King was willing to help.

“So, what do you want me to do? To help, I mean.” Asked King Kuei enthusiastically.

“We have a plan to take the fight to the Fire Nation.” Sokka began, glancing at Zuko before continuing. “Pretty soon, there’s going to be an eclipse…”

The plan was fairly straightforward, all in all. Attack during the eclipse, when the firebenders would be powerless, and cut a path to the Firelord using the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom to tangle with the soldiers. It was, as far as Zuko could tell, a solid plan. With just one glaring exception.

“You know the Fire Nation will know about the eclipse, right?” Zuko asked, as Sokka wrapped up his presentation.

“What?!” The exclamation came from literally everyone simultaneously. Zuko reminded himself forcibly that this was not the Fire Nation, and he was not about to be challenged to an Agni Kai.

“The Fire Sages track all astrological events. They’ll know about the eclipse and prepare accordingly.” Zuko explained, shrinking back slightly, despite himself.

“So, the plan is shot?” Sokka asked, sounding hurt.

“I didn’t say that.” Zuko corrected hastily, “The Fire Nation will still be weakened. They won’t know you know about the eclipse, and they won’t know your planning to attack. You still have a chance, a good chance. You just need to be prepared for stiff resistance”

“See, having Zuko around is already helpful!” Aang chirped helpfully.

“Yea.” Sokka blinked, then looked excited, “I have an idea! We can talk about it later. We shouldn’t discuss tactics out here in the open.” 

“Oh, right of course!” King Kuei exclaimed.

After that King Kuei left to return to the safety of his fabulous palace in the center of the city, leaving the group to travel back on Appa. They’d offered to give him a ride back on Appa, but he’d been very enthusiastic about taking the train back ‘on his own’, with only his twenty-person entourage for company. Once they were all onboard Appa, Zuko finally asked,

“So, what was your idea from earlier?” Sokka grinned at him.

“You can help us plan the invasion! You grew up in the palace, you know probably more about it than anyone else in the Earth Kingdom.”

“I mean, it’s all three years out of date…” Zuko explained.

“Okay, but has the layout of the city or the palace really changed that much in three years? Or the way the guards are trained?” Sokka pressed.

“No, probably not.” Zuko admitted, “but I don’t know how much has changed since then.”

“Sokka has a point, we can at least form a tentative plan of attack using your intel.” Katara assured him.

“Oooh, you’re gonna be a spy, Zuzu.” Kiyi squealed and tugged at his sleeve excitedly. “That is so cool.”

“Spies are definitely cool.” Sokka agreed brightly.

“Okay, okay! I’ll help!” Zuko caved, wondering distantly how he’d gone from working quietly in a teashop to helping the Avatar overthrow the Firelord in twenty-four hours.

He also wasn’t sure when it had been decided that he and Kiyi would be moving into the house Sokka and the others shared. Despite this, he found himself standing in what had been designated ‘his room’ upon their arrival by Katara. He’d set down the few things he’d brought with him, and tried to comfort himself with the knowledge that with the Dai Li neutralized, he could return to their apartment and actually retrieve everything else. By contrast, Kiyi had taken her one doll and placed it with great care and precision in her own room next to his and looked thoroughly satisfied with her new set up, then gone off in search to bake cookies with Aang.

With Kiyi in safe hands and nothing urgently needing his attention, Zuko decided to do something he hadn’t done since he was four and took a nap. He wasn’t expecting for it to last long, it was late afternoon by now and he’d never slept well when the sun was in the sky. Not that he normally slept well at night either. Unfortunately, he had not accounted for the sheer exhaustion brought on by the last few days, broken up only by a few hours of sleep the previous night. As it was, Zuko was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, and when he opened his eyes it felt like no time at all had passed, but he felt strangely well rested.

It took him a moment for him to realize where he was, and then everything came flooding back to him. He realized from the light coming through the window that it was late morning the following day. Zuko groaned softly and sat up. He wasn’t sure he had ever slept past sunrise before. Why hadn’t Kiyi woken him up? Normally she would have shaken him awake out of sheer frustration within five minutes of waking up herself. Quietly, Zuko padded over to peak his head into her room, only to find it empty.

For a brief, irrational moment, Zuko wondered wildly if the Avatar had kidnapped his little sister. This lasted exactly until he realized he could hear the sound of someone humming slightly-off key filtering down the hall. Years of deeply engrained paranoia led Zuko to make his was quietly as possible down the hall, peering cautiously into the main room of the house. Instead of the upbeat kidnapper that had been appearing half formed in Zuko’s mind, he found Sokka. He was laboring over some sort of food he was preparing in the kitchen. The tension leaked out of Zuko as he realized that there was no threat.

“What are you making?” asked Zuko coming to peer over his shoulder. Sokka jumped out of his skin and rushed stand between Zuko and the bowl so he couldn’t what was in it. “Sorry.” Zuko drew back awkwardly.

“No, it’s fine.” Sokka fumbled, blushing. “I just didn’t realize you were awake, you caught me by surprise.”

“Oh.” Zuko said, unsure of what else to say, “Where are the others?” He went with finally.

“Toph and Aang went to do some earthbender training. It mostly just sounds like Toph is going to throw giant rocks at him, to be honest. And Kiyi wanted some things from your apartment so Katara took her to get them, since we didn’t want to wake you up. She said she’d try and gather up anything important, but if she misses anything you can make a trip later.” Sokka told him.

“Why didn’t you go with them? You’ve been before, it would have made sense.” Zuko asked. Sokka looked at him a long moment.

“I was waiting for you to wake up. I mean, if I woke up to found someone had disappeared with my little sister, I’d flip, and she’s old enough to handle herself.” Sokka explained, and Zuko blinked. He wasn’t used to the idea of someone taking his feelings into account. The experience was not unpleasant. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes.” Zuko said immediately, abruptly aware of the gnawing hunger in his stomach.

“Good, me too. I’m making an old Water Tribe delicacy.” Sokka explained, “Just don’t tell Katara, she’d never forgive me for not telling her about this.”

“I won’t tell Katara if you don’t tell Kiyi, she’d be outraged if she found out I was getting treats without her.” Zuko agreed.

“Deal. Now sit down, I’m going to do the cooking this time.” He said, shooing Zuko towards the table.

“I let you help me cook!” Zuko pointed out.

“Yes, and before that you helped us find Appa, putting you and Kiyi in danger to do it. The least I can do is cook for you. Sit.” Sokka said surprisingly firmly.

“You helped me get Kiyi back.” Zuko grumbled as he sat down.

“After we got her into trouble.” Sokka fired back, “might as well give up, I’ve had years of practice from arguing with Katara.”

“Oh, but I had my own practice arguing with Azula. I’m not worried.” Zuko smiled slightly.

“And yet, I sincerely doubt either one of you idiots ever actually won any of those arguments.” Sighed Toph, followed closely by a very tired and dirty Aang.

“We’re back, and we brought tea!” Aang added, holding up a tray containing a half tea pot and a half dozen cups.

“From the Jasmine Dragon?” asked Sokka.

“Where else?” replied Toph. “I thought we should celebrate getting Appa back.”

“Good call.” Sokka agreed readily, and frowned, “Uncle just let you carry an entire tea set off?”

“He said he thought he could trust me to bring it back.” Aang said with a shrug.

“I mean, I guess that’s true.” Sokka sighed, taking a cup from Aang.

“You have an Uncle who runs a tea shop here in Ba Sing Se?” asked Zuko in surprise as he accepted his own cup. He’d always thought the Water Tribes were pretty insular, keeping to themselves since the start of the war.

“He’s not really Sokka’s uncle, everyone just calls him that.” Aang said with a shrug.

“I think his real name starts with and I… or maybe and M?” Sokka frowned as he turned back to his cooking.

“Oooh, what are you making?” asked Aang, brightening visibly at the sight Sokka’s cooking.

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” Sokka told them imperiously. The other two grumbled and flopped down next to Zuko at the table.

“So how was your earthbending training?” Zuko asked as he sipped his tea. It was delicious, much better than he’d had in a long time. It reminded him vividly of the tea his own Uncle had made. Uncle Iroh preferred ginseng however, and this was jasmine. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, coming from a shop called the Jasmine Dragon.

“Toph is evil. I almost died.” Aang said gloomily.

“Twinkle Toes is exaggerating; he was barely even at risk of grievous bodily harm.” Toph scoffed dismissively.

“Somehow I doubt that.” Sokka sniggered.

“I thought Aang was almost done with his earthbending training. Isn’t that why he needs a firebending teacher?” Zuko asked, still enjoying his tea.

“Oh, he’s ready to learn firebending.” Toph assured him, “Aang’s plenty good at earthbending, he’s just being overdramatic.”

“I am not!” protested Aang

“Well, you’ll never be as good as me, but your perfectly adequate.” Toph strugged.

“I meant I wasn’t being overdramatic.” Aang pouted.

“Oh, I know what you meant.” Toph agreed easily, causing some mild grumbling from the Avatar and more laughter from Sokka.

“Toph. Stop antagonizing him.” Katara scolded, startling all of them. She had come in behind them carrying two large bags and trailing a bright looking Kiyi who was also hauling a bag, which was bigger that she was.

“Zuzu! You’re up! We brought stuff from home!” Kiyi informed him brightly.

“We brought pretty much everything except the furniture.” Katara told him, “So you wouldn’t have to make multiple trips.”

“Thanks for taking her.” Zuko offered as Kiyi carried her bag past him towards her room.

“No problem, you seemed like you could use the rest.” Katara replied, setting down the backs with relief and rolling her shoulders. She turned to Sokka, “Do you need any help with that?”

“For the last time, I’m fine! Honestly, why does everyone keep asking to help?” Sokka snapped, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Oh. Oh! I see. In that case, I’ll just sit and chat with everyone else.” Katara’s smile shifted in a way that suggested she knew something the others did not.

Soon enough Kiyi came bouncing back into the room and the group swapped stories about how their mornings had gone. No one believed Toph’s pleas of innocence, not even Kiyi, who talked with great enthusiasm about her train rides from the Upper Ring to the Lower and back again. She’d only ridden it twice before. Once when they’d arrived and once yesterday with the Earth King, since they didn’t have permission to travel between Rings. The novelty of it had yet to wear off.

Sokka finished his cooking, having successfully fended off all attempts at help. He looked quite pleased with himself and simultaneously slightly put out about something. He placed a large bowl of small, wrinkled round somethings in a thick purplish sauce. Zuko wasn’t sure exactly what he was looking at, but next to him Katara gasped and went ridged.

“You weren’t trying to impress Zuko! You were trying to hog all the sea prunes for yourself!” She fumed.

“I found them! Why shouldn’t I eat them all?” demanded Sokka.

“What are sea prunes?” asked Toph, clearly intrigued.

“They’re a Southern Water Tribe thing. They’re very… chewy.” Aang explained as diplomatically as possible.

“Oh.” Toph said simply, deflating and edging subtly away from the dish.

“You all just don’t have the refined palates that we Southerners have.” Sokka told them primly.

“Can I try one?” Asked Kiyi, peering down at them curiously. She didn’t seem put out at all by Aang’s less than glowing review of the dish.

“Sure.” Sokka said, and she eagerly popped one into her mouth. After she had chewed for a moment her eyes widened in surprise.

“Mmmm! Zuzu, you have to try these, they taste just like umiboshi!” Kiyi squealed, grabbing another one happily. Cautiously, Zuko tasted one, and found that she was right.

“Where did you find these? I haven’t been able to find anything even close to this in the Earth Kingdom!” Zuko demanded.

“I found a merchant whose been importing them from whale tale island as a delicacy for fancy-pants aristocrats in the Upper Ring.” Sokka explained. His expression warred between delight and frustration at losing part of his snack.

In the end, Toph did try one out of curiosity. She didn’t eat another. So, the Sea Prunes were just split between the four of them. Kiyi gulped them down faster than Zuko would have thought previously possible. Sokka and Katara were clearly both surprised by the speed and quantity his little sister could eat. Zuko just smiled, remembering his own shock at this fact early on.

“We should do some practice this afternoon.” He told Kiyi, “Since we didn’t do any yesterday or the day before.”

“Can we practice with real fire? I mean, everyone already knows we’re firebenders.” Kiyi grinned up at him a bit smugly.

“Yes, we can practice the katas with fire, but we’re going to go slowly and you’re going to have to be extra careful.” Zuko told her seriously.

“I will be.” Kiyi promised solemnly.

“You can come, if you want.” Zuko offered, looking at Aang. “We’re mostly just going to be doing breathing exercises and basic katas, but if you’re just starting out that’s what you should be doing anyway.”

“I don’t know, I’m pretty tired from training this morning.” Aang explained, which would have been believable had it not been for the extremely guilty look he got when he said it.

“Okay…” Zuko replied, not sure if he should press Aang on this. Fortunately for him, Katara took the decision out of his hands.

“You should go with them, Aang, you can take it slow if you need to.” Katara pushed.

“You can at least do the breathing exercises, they’re easy.” Kiyi told him confidently. Aang looked slightly anxious now.

“Kiyi, why don’t you go wait for us outside and start your meditation.” Zuko told her.

“Okay.” She said, looking at Aang with concern in her eyes as she left. One she was gone, all eyes turned on the Avatar.

“I’m not going to learn firebending. I’m just not comfortable with it.” Aang blurted, looking apologetic.

“Aang, you need to learn firebending. I get that it’s hard, after…” Katara soothed

“Last time I tried, I burned you Katara! I’m not going to learn firebending if it means I hurt anyone else.” Aang exclaimed.

“You’re not going to hurt anyone as long as you take it slow. The first thing you practice when you learn firebending control to prevent exactly that. I don’t know who taught you firebending before, but-” Zuko reasoned.

“Don’t blame Zeong Zeong, he did try to teach me control! Firebending is just dangerous!” Aang replied hotly.

“So, what, you’re just going to restore balance to the world with only three elements?” Zuko asked, feeling anger rising inside of himself.

“Firebending hurts people!” Aang exclaimed

“So do all the other forms of bending when their used for combat!” Zuko shot back.

“It’s not the same! Firebending is only used for violence! You should know! Look at what happened to you just by accident!” Aang shouted. It took Zuko a split second to realize Aang was referring to his scar. Zuko saw red.

“It wasn’t an accident!” Zuko shouted back, “My father did it to be on purpose! Yes, he’s a monster! But that doesn’t mean that all firebenders are evil! You don’t blame all earthbenders for Long Feng and you can’t blame all firebending for him! There are plenty of firebenders who never use their bending that way! Your sample of firebenders is limited exclusively to ones who are trying to kill you!”

This statement was met with a complete, horrified silence. Zuko snapped his mouth shut, immediately regretting his words. Aang looked like he’d been slapped in the face. Even Toph looked upset by this declaration.

“well, shit.” Breathed Toph.

“But… didn’t you say you were like thirteen when you left the Fire Nation?” Asked Sokka softly.

“Yea, yea I was.” Zuko said, his anger fading and taking his confidence with it.

“I’m sorry I- How could you firebend again, after that?” asked Aang looking devastated. Zuko took a steadying breath. Aang was scared to try firebending, obviously. He was lashing out because he was scared. Zuko could understand that, at least.

“For a long time, I couldn’t. I Couldn’t feel comfortable even with my own fire. In the end… firebending isn’t just used for violence. I had to use it to cook and keep warm and eventually to protect myself and Kiyi. I guess I had to use my bending, and over time I stopped associating fire just with that one moment.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.” Aang said softly.

“When you’re ready to try, we can start small. Meditation just involves candles. Do you really think I’m letting my five-year-old sister do anything dangerous?”

“She did blast someone in the face with a fireball.” Sokka pointed out.

“She’d never done that move with the actually bending before, we’d only ever gone through the movements in practice.” Zuko snorted, “and she’s a little more confident than Aang is.”

“You promise we’ll start small?” Aang asked warily.

“I promise.” Zuko assured him. This seemed to settle things, and Aang set his face in determination and followed Zuko outside to practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea that Sea Prunes taste like umiboshi (pickled plums) comes from the amazing Muffinlance, whose writing is pretty much already cannon. Its presence here is dedicated to my own little sister, who loves umiboshi (tragically she has never been able to try sea prunes).


	7. It Changes Who I Am

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I forgot to post this morning! I am so excited for this chapter, so hopefully it will make up for the delay!

“You do realize you sound paranoid, right?” Toph asked Zuko as the group entered the palace together a few days later.

“It’s not paranoia, these people were trying to kill us less than a week ago. Just because their friendly now doesn’t mean that they’ll stay that way. Caution is perfectly reasonable under those circumstances.” Zuko insisted.

“The more I learn about what you expect from people, the worse the Firelord specifically and the Fire Nation in general look.” Katara sighed.

“Not everyone in the Fire Nation is that bad!” Zuko protested.

“So, would you be referring to your mother who fled the country or your uncle… who also fled the country?” Sokka asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Zuko’s not like that… but he fled the country too.” Toph cackled brightly.

“Not just them, Mai and Ty Lee aren’t like that.” Zuko recalled.

“You mean Azula’s scary friends?” asked Aang, brows knitted.

“They’re hunting you because their loyal to Azula and because if they refuse, they’ll be thrown in prison, not because they have anything against you.” Zuko explained.

“Oh, yea, that makes the Fire Nation sound so much better.” Toph told him.

“I’m just saying, it’s not the whole Fire Nation, just a handful of bad leaders at the top.” Zuko pushed.

“I’m with Toph on this one. You’ll have a lot to fix when your Firelord.” Kiyi told him solemnly. Zuko stopped walking and stared at her.

“What are you talking about Kiyi? I’m not going to be Firelord.”

“Of course, you are. When Aang beats the Firelord and ends the war. I heard Katara and Sokka talking about it.” Kiyi explained slowly, as if her brother was very, very stupid. Zuko turned his glare on the Water Tribe siblings.

“Look, I’m sorry! I just thought it was obvious! Aren’t you next in line for the throne anyway? After Ozai is gone you’ll inherit.” Sokka blurted. Katara shot him a look at how easily he’d cracked under the pressure.

“I was disinherited when I was banished. Azula will be the one to take the throne after Father, not me.” Zuko told him.

“Not if we win.” Katara replied matter-of-factly, “If we win then we’ll need someone trustworthy in charge of the Fire Nation. Ideally, someone who was already in the line of succession. Azula will never be trustworthy enough to put in that position and even if she were, you’d be a better Firelord than she would.”

“Oh.” Zuko didn’t know how else to respond, his mind still racing to catch up with her words. He’d been the heir to the throne for a very brief window, a very long time ago, between when Grandfather had died and his banishment. He couldn’t even imagine what it was would be like to be Firelord anymore.

“Oh?” pressed Sokka, bring Zuko back to reality.

“Oh.” Zuko affirmed, “I just… need time to adjust to the idea, I think.”

Somewhat reluctantly, Sokka and Katara let the matter drop, and the others followed suit. Leaving Zuko alone to have a very quiet nervous breakdown. This breakdown continued as they were all led into the world’s second most intimidating mail room by a very important looking man who was explaining something about how Long Feng had done yet another horrible thing, in this case withholding everyone’s mail. As the others read through their letters, Kiyi tugged on Zuko’s sleeve.

“Are you okay, Zuzu?” She asked.

“Yea, I’m fine, sweetie. Just a little bit surprised. I guess I didn’t think through this as thoroughly as you have.” He told her.

“What’s there to think through? You should become Firelord so that I can be a princess.” Kiyi told him.

“Well, I still need to decide whether or not I want to be Firelord, but I’ll keep that in mind. I’m glad you have your priorities clear, though.” Zuko told her.

“Fine.” Kiyi sighed, and Zuko got the distinct impression that she thought that he was being a complete idiot.

Their conversation was abruptly cut off by the heated argument Katara and Sokka launched into after finishing their own letter. Apparently, Toph was going to go reconnect with her mother and Aang had to go meet with some guru for Avatar-related stuff so either Katara or Sokka had to sit out of going to go visit their father, whose fleet was nearby. Naturally, because these people lived in a very weird parallel universe, they were both arguing that the other should go and visit their father.

“I can keep an eye on things, if you both want to go.” Zuko cut in, and when they hesitated, he added, “I’ll be staying here with Kiyi anyway, so…”

“That’s a good point.” Katara admitted, backing down from her earlier position easily at the prospect of seeing her dad. “If Zuko’s here, neither one of us needs to stay and deal with these people. We should both go see dad.” Sokka seemed less convinced.

“I want to stay. I want to help plan the invasion. It was my idea; I should be involved!” Sokka continued to insist as Katara persistently herded the six of them out of the palace Zuko. tried not to feel like this meant he didn’t trust him.

“Alright, Sokka, if you’re really that determined to not see Dad, I’ll go without you.” Katara sighed, admitting defeat.

“Great, problem solved.” Toph clapped her hands together. “Now, I say we go to the Jasmine Dragon, you know, since it’s on the way home and all.”

“You know, you can just admit you want to ask Uncle for advice about seeing your mom again.” Sokka shot back.

“Oh please, like I need help with anything, Snoozles.” Toph told him confidently.

“I still think we should go get tea.” Aang offered up, “and Uncle does give excellent advice!”

“We’re definitely going to go get tea. I just think Toph should admit she actually wants other people’s advice every once in a while.” Sokka explained. Toph bristled at this, and the discussion rapidly devolved into an argument between her and Sokka.

Much as Zuko would like to deny it, he was deeply curious about the man that the others talked about with such obvious affection. From what he could tell about their adventures from their stories, there were precious few adults who offered them real help and support on their mission. Even fewer who did so without wanting something in return. The fact that they had someone who was willing to be the parent they all so clearly needed reassured Zuko slightly. Well, someone besides him. He felt slightly unsettled by the fact that he felt like he was rapidly taking on the role of their older brother. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had so many people he cared about so much, if ever.

This feeling changed quickly into happiness as Kiyi grabbed one hand and Toph grabbed the other and together they proceeded to physically drag him the short distance down the street to the Jasmine Dragon. The building was large and painted bright green with gold trim in the typical Earth Kingdom style. As they entered through the large, impressive double doors, however, Zuko felt his breath catch slightly.

Despite the green and brown color scheme, the interior design was distinctively Fire Nation. He wondered absently if he should mention this fact to the others as a bright waitress led them over to a large and elegant table. As they settled into their seats, the woman brightly promised to send the owner, who she also referred to as Uncle, out as soon as possible. Apparently, the rest of the group were regulars around here.

“Isn’t this place great? You should try the onigiri here, they’re amazing.” Aang chattered happily.

“This place sorta reminds me of Momma’s house.” Kiyi piped up, looking around curiously.

“Yea it does.” Zuko told her, avoiding anything more specific by studying the list of teas. This place felt familiar and uncomfortable all at once. How had Fire Nation styles ended up an Earth Kingdom teashop. He found Uncle Iroh’s favorite blend of ginseng on the list, as if he’d needed any further proof of his Uncle’s excellent taste in tea. He smiled quietly to himself even as he felt the usual pang of loss whenever he found something that reminded him of his uncle. A crash caused him to jerk his head up, already scanning for the threat. It didn’t take him long to identify the fallen tea tray that had made the sound. And standing there with his hand pressed to his mouth was-

“Uncle.” Zuko breathed, struggling to believe his eyes. His Uncle was dressed in Earth Kingdom clothes and he’d cut off his top knot, but it was indisputably him.

“Zuko?” the emotion in Iroh’s voice was thick.

Zuko wasn’t sure how he got from the table over to his Uncle, all he knew as that he was suddenly there. He threw his arms around Iroh and heard himself saying.

“Thank the spirits. I’m sorry Uncle, I’m so sorry.”

“There is nothing to apologize for, Nephew.” Iroh assured him, hugging him and patting his back while Zuko cried. When had he started crying?

Slowly, the rest of the world came back to him and he became aware of the fact that the room had gone very, very silent. His relief gave way to discomfort as he realized that he was making a scene and made an effort to reign himself back in. He pulled away from Uncle who was looking at him with the same feeling of confused delight that Zuko himself was feeling. Finally, he tore his eyes away from his Uncle and turned to face the rest of the room. Every single person was staring at them. Zuko fought the urge to run or hide, but only because it would mean abandoning Kiyi, and now Uncle, to the mercy of these people.

“So, you two know each other?” Katara, somehow, managed to sound casual and offhand. It would have been more convincing if Toph, Aang, and Sokka weren’t staring at them in open-mouthed shock. Kiyi looked utterly baffled but pleased for her brother.

“I believe I’ve mentioned I have a biological niece and nephew who I haven’t been able to see in a long time.” Uncle Iroh replied just as mildly, as he regained his composure far more quickly than Zuko, “Perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere a bit more private. Where everyone in the teashop isn’t eavesdropping.”

Abruptly, the chatter started back up again as the patrons attempted to pretend they weren’t listening in. Well, except for Kiyi and his friends, who were continuing to stare like Zuko had grown a second head. Iroh seemed utterly unaware of the tension as he led them all out the back door and across a small courtyard to a smaller and plainer building. The interior design here was even more explicitly Fire Nation, though still without the red. Plus, the windows let in far more natural light than there had ever been in the palace, though Zuko could vaguely recall something similar in the house on ember island. Iroh settled them all around the table and began making tea. Zuko tried and mostly failed to convince himself this was real.

“Uncle… how are you here?” Zuko asked, staring at the old man in continued shock.

“More importantly, how are you Zuko’s uncle?” asked Sokka.

“I the answer to the latter question is fairly straightforward, Zuko is my younger brother’s son. As too the latter-” Iroh was cut off by Aang of all people.

“Wait, your Firelord Ozai’s older brother?” Aang asked in surprise. “Then why aren’t you Firelord?”

“Good question,” Zuko murmured, it was a question that has crossed his mind many times in the years since his grandfather’s death and his mother’s disappearance. Iroh just smiled sadly,

“The short version is that Ozai manipulated things so that I was both out of the country and not up to fighting him on it when he took the throne.” Iroh explained, pouring the tea. Zuko noticed he didn’t mention Lu Ten.

“That still doesn’t explain how you got into Ba Sing Se.” Zuko pointed out.

“Well, I have old friends from all four nations. Getting papers to enter Ba Sing Se wasn’t all that difficult for me. I’m surprised that you managed to get in as well, nephew, and more surprised still that you’d want to.” Iroh replied

“Ba Sing Se is the only place in the world that’s safe from Fire Nation invasion. Well, it’s supposed to be, the Dai Li seems to have a serious problem with identifying forged papers. Mostly, I just wanted to keep Kiyi safe.” Zuko explained, hugging his sister with one arm. Kiyi fussed and pushed him away.

“Kiyi…?” Iroh seemed to focus on the little girl for the first time. He smiled kindly, “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, Kiyi, I’m Uncle Iroh.”

“Nice to meet you!” Kiyi told him happily.

“How do you know my nephew?” Asked Uncle.

“He and I have the same mom.” Kiyi explained, then added, “Zuko talks about you a lot, especially when he makes tea!”

“Well, I suppose that makes you my niece, doesn’t it?” Iroh told her and Kiyi beamed.

“What is it with Fire Nation Royalty and tea shops?” Toph asked, sipping from her own cup.

“Tea reminded me of Uncle.” Zuko mumbled as he accepted a cup from Uncle. Uncle beamed.

“It’s nice to see you’ve finally gained an appreciation for the finer things in life, nephew.” Iroh looked as if he had never been more proud of anyone in his entire life.

“I’ll never appreciate tea as much as you do, Uncle.” Zuko teased, smiling slightly despite himself.

“Well, now you’re just holding yourself to an unreasonable standard.” Uncle replied smoothly, “But I’m curious, how exactly did you all find your way to each other?”

This precipitated a cacophony of voices as everyone began to talk over each other. Despite the chaotic, slightly disjointed story that stemmed from all of them attempting to tell their version of events at the same time, Uncle seemed to be following it just fine. He kept asking questions that made Zuko think that he actually understood more of what had happened than they had actually admitted about some of the less-than-legal, high-risk parts of the story. Of course, in typical Uncle fashion, he gave a cryptic proverb about keeping out of trouble and left it at that. It reminded Zuko of how much he had really missed his Uncle.

Soon enough, the others were ready to head home. Zuko could tell they also didn’t want prematurely cut off his reunion with his Uncle, so he encouraged them to go as subtly and tactfully as he could.

“It’s getting pretty late, do you guys think you could maybe take Kiyi home?” He assumed the strange looks he was getting were because it wasn’t even dinner time yet. He sighed, mentally acknowledging that maybe tact wasn’t exactly his strong suit. It did get the other out the door, however, and let him have a word alone with his Uncle. The old man, for his part, seemed perfectly happy to usher the others out. It was always hard to tell what he was thinking. Even so, when he turned towards Zuko after shutting the door there was a brightness in his eyes his smile that made Zuko’s spirit’s lift.

“I have been waiting a long time to play another game of Pai Sho with you, nephew.” Iroh told him cheerfully.

“I haven’t gotten any better.” Zuko warned him, “Kiyi beats me regularly. She’s convinced I’m letting her win, but she’s wrong.”

“Well, I won’t let her know.” Iroh grinned, “and from what I can tell of your little sister, that might not actually speak as badly of your skills as you think.”

“That’s true, Kiyi is a shark. She’s the one you should be play.” Zuko snorted, sitting down at the very large and impressive Pai Sho table Uncle had set up in the corner.

“Perhaps, but you’re the one I want to talk to right now. Come one, let’s sit, play some Pai Sho, and you can tell me the whole story about what happened to you after we parted ways.” Iroh agreed, sitting down opposite him.

“That’s a polite way of saying I abandoned you in the middle of the wilderness in the Earth Kingdom.” Zuko pointed out.

“I wasn’t the one who was thirteen, Zuko. I should not have let you go.” Iroh told him firmly, making his opening move with the white lotus tile.

“I didn’t give you much choice.” Zuko reminded him, making his own move.

“You weren’t as skilled at avoiding being tailed as you thought, Prince Zuko, I followed you until you reach your mothers village, Zuko.” Iroh explained gently.

“That- that was over a year after I left you, Uncle!” Zuko stared at him.

“I’m persistant, and I wasn’t about to abandon you if you needed me. I only left you then because I thought you would be safe with Ursa.” Iroh admitted.

“I would have been, I think,” Zuko admitted softly, “but she was sick. She died not long after.”

“Leaving you alone with Kiyi. When you really needed, me I wasn’t there.” Iroh sighed heavily.

“I didn’t want you there. Even when I ended up with Kiyi, it took me a long time to accept that I needed your help.” Zuko assured him. He was reasonably sure he was already losing the game badly.

“Obviously you didn’t need my help.” Iroh chuckled. Zuko chose not to believe his good spirits were due to how soundly he was beating his nephew at Pai Sho. “You seem to have gotten through it without me.”

“Barely.” Zuko snorted, “I can’t tell you how many times I thought I wasn’t going to be able to get us both through it safely. And now, there’s Toph and Aang, even Katara’s still really young even when she acts like she’s everyone’s mother. I had to be the responsible adult for over a year, Uncle!”

“When you put it like that, it does sound quite serious.” Iroh smiled slightly, then frowned, “I am still sorry you went through that on your own, Nephew.”

“It’s not your fault. Besides, you’re here now.” Zuko promised.

“Thank you, Prince Zuko. I… feel I have to ask, do the others know that you are the Blue Spirit?” asked Iroh.

“Everyone except Kiyi… I was trying not to get into trouble for her. I gave up being the Blue Spirit when we got to the city. I wanted to be the older brother she deserves. How did you know?” Zuko looked at him.

“I recognized the mask on the wanted posters in the Earth Kingdom. You kept it after your mother left, didn’t you?” Iroh explained. Zuko nodded. “So, what changed? Why get involved with the Avatar and his friends?”

“It’s not because of father, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Zuko shifted uncomfortably under his uncle’s gaze, “I don’t want to go home. Not like that, at least.”

“You have no idea how proud I am to hear you say that Prince Zuko. And for what it’s worth, I believe you’re doing the right thing.” Iroh assured him.

“I’m so glad you’re here Uncle. I’ve missed your advice a lot. I need your advice on… pretty much everything right now.”

“Define ‘everything’”

“I’m supposed to be teaching the Avatar firebending, but I haven’t had any formal training in years. I’ve basically made up everything I know beyond the intermediate katas. Plus, I’m not sure I should be dragging Kiyi into this at all, and I’m worried I’m doing wrong thing by fundamentally committing treason. Although, I guess not turning Aang over is already disobeying a direct order from the Firelord, so maybe that’s not… I just don’t know! I don’t know what I’m doing, Uncle, and I’m so tired of pretending I do.” Zuko buried his face in his hands.

“Well, I can’t pretend to be able to tell you the answers to everything, particularly when it comes to whether or not you yourself believe you’re betraying your country. I can only tell you that since Lu Ten’s death I’ve come to believe that there is a difference between doing what’s right for the Fire Nation and what the Firelord tells you is best for the Fire Nation.” Iroh told him gently.

“I think… I think I agree. It’s just nice to hear someone else from the Fire Nation say it too.” Zuko breathed.

“As for the Firebending, the focus training back home places on Katas is… excessive, to say the least. I can help teach you some of the more advanced techniques, but it’s probably for the best that you’ve separated yourself from traditional Firebending when it comes to teaching the Avatar. Have you been working on your control?” Iroh asked.

“Yes. I’ve had to be so careful around Kiyi, especially since she started bending. I can’t set a bad example, I know that.” Zuko sighed.

“Then you’ve made improvements on your biggest struggle already.” Iroh told him.

“But shouldn’t you teach him? You’re the master, not me.” Zuko pushed.

“True, but you are the one who the Avatar asked to teach you. I believe that you are the one meant to be his teacher, not me. I’ll help when you need it, but for the most part I think you need to handle this.” Iroh promised him.

“Okay, I’ll… do my best.” Zuko replied hesitantly.

“I have faith in your abilities, nephew.”

“There’s something else, too.” Zuko added, “Are you going to be Firelord if Aang disposes Father?” Iroh was silent for a long time after that. Zuko was just beginning to wonder if his Uncle was going to answer at all when he spoke again,

“I’ve thought long and hard about this Zuko, and I don’t think I can. I’m too old and have done too much harm to the other Nations in my own time. The Fire Nation needs someone new, someone committed to peace. I think it should be you, Zuko. You are too young to take on such a responsibility, and I’m sorry to place such a burden on you.” 

“You’re not responsible for this, Uncle. You decided long before ever it came to this that you didn’t want the throne, back when you stepped aside after Father took the throne. I don’t blame you for not wanting it, just like I don’t blame Aang and the others for expecting me to take over. The only person who is responsible for this whole mess is Ozai.” Zuko told him. Iroh looked thoughtfully at his nephew for a moment.

“When last we saw each other you weren’t ready to face the reality of your father’s actions. I’m glad you’ve been able to accept that…” For the first time since Lu Ten died, Uncle seemed to be at a loss for words.

“…That Ozai is an abusive monster?” Zuko suggested.

“Exactly.” Iroh sighed. “When you left, you were still holding on to the idea that eventually your father would change his mind and let you go back, and what’s more, you wanted to go back.”

“I did want to go back. I held on to that hope for a long time, it was the only thing that kept me going for so long.”

“So, what changed?” Iroh asked.

“Kiyi happened.” Zuko explained, “All of a sudden I was responsible for a little kid myself, and I realized how absolutely insane he was. I always believed him when he said he needed to make me strong, to teach me what’s right. I could never even imagine hurting Kiyi. For that matter, I’d kill anyone who so much as threatened lay a hand on her, and he… He was wrong. He just was.”

“I know, nephew, I know. I should have realized sooner; I should have stopped him. I should have…” Iroh stopped himself, “I was mourning Lu Ten, but that’s not an excuse for my blindness. I don’t think I really wanted to know.”

“I believe you” Zuko promised, pulling his uncle into another hug. Iroh seemed surprised for half a moment before hugging him back.

“You’ve come so far, Prince Zuko, and you’ve had to do it on your own. I know your strong enough to do whatever you need to, but I hope you know that I will do whatever I can to support you from here on out. When you take up the title of Firelord, you won’t have to carry that responsibility by yourself.” Iroh told him.

“You’re going to give up the tea shop? It’s basically your dream. You spend all your time surrounded by tea and Pai Sho.” Zuko pointed out.

“My dream is for my nephew and niece to be safe and happy and for the Fire Nation to be out from under Ozai’s thumb and for the war to end. I’m one quarter of the way there already!” Iroh informed him as he made the final moving, winning the game. Zuko stared at him.

“That… seems like an excessively optimistic assessment.” Zuko told him.

“What can I say? I find that dwelling in the bad will only hurt the people around you in the long run.” Iroh told him. “Now, I believe you should get back to your friends before it gets too late.”

“We’re in the Upper Ring, and I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.” Zuko insisted.

“I’m aware.” Iroh looked smug. “But I expect your little sister will be missing you, and her bedtime must be soon.”

“Oh. Right. Yea.” Zuko fumbled, looking anxiously at his Uncle, not sure how to voice everything he was feeling. Iroh smiled at him in that way he did when he seemed to see straight into Zuko’s soul.

“I’m not going anywhere, nephew. Go, take care of your sister. Perhaps I can bring by some tea and pastries in the morning?” Iroh offered kindly.

“Yea. That would be great.” Zuko agreed gratefully, feeling relief. “I think that the others will probably love me forever for getting them free tea. Maybe you can do morning meditation with me, Aang, and Kiyi too.”

“I would like that very much.” Iroh smiled.

Zuko helped his Uncle clean up all the dishes and hugged him goodnight before heading back to the house to put Kiyi to bed. Zuko found himself smiling. He tried to remember the last time he’d been this happy. The last time he’d had a loving family, that he’d had friends, and a purpose moving forward. The future was looking brighter than it had since he was eleven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iroh is a really hard character to get right, so hopefully you liked how I wrote him!


	8. I Am Undone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I am really sorry there was no chapter last week. Finals are happening and I thought that this week would be the busy one and that I would let y’all know in a note at the end of the chapter last week that I wouldn’t be posting. Naturally, in keeping with life’s indifference to my writing schedule, last week was crazy and this week has been somewhat calmer. The good news is I’m headed into spring break so I should be able to finish this fic and get a jump on my next one over the next two weeks. I’d also like to apologize in advance for the knife twisting in this chapter.   
> T/W for panic attacks and Zuko’s trauma due to child abuse.

Zuko’s nightmare started in the same place it always did. He knew that before, he’d had nightmares about a lot of things, now they were always the same. He was back in the palace, standing in front of a massive set of double doors. On the other side of the doors someone screamed, and the doors swung inwards. Inside was the painfully familiar space of the Agni Kai arena. On the raised stage in the center of the room, a tall figure stood over a smaller one, both cloaked in shadow. The tall figure reached out. Zuko rushed forward to stop him, and the tall figures hand blazed with light, throwing the scene into stark relief. The smaller figure was out of focus, shifting moment by moment, it was Aang, Kiyi, Toph, Uncle, Katara, Sokka. The taller figure was the same as Zuko remembered, the crown of the Firelord on his head. He had the sudden, eerie realization of how much it looked like his own face now. The Firelord reached out and pressed his hand to the smaller figures face. The smaller figure screamed and screamed. Zuko tried to move, to help, to run, to do _something_. He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t even scream.

He couldn’t, he couldn’t, and then abruptly he could. He screamed and screamed. His eyes flew open, panicking and desperate. He lashed out randomly, sending a wave of fire across the room. Which caused Toph, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Kiyi to drop to the ground to avoid it. All of this felt distant and detached though. His ears were still filled with screams and his nose with the scent of burning flesh. Zuko planned on apologizing just as soon as he could breathe. Far away, his sister came over to him, approaching carefully.

“Breathe, Zuzu, I’m okay. We’re all okay.” Kiyi soothed.

“Kiyi, I think you should stay back. I’m a healer, I can help him.” Katara told her. Uncertainly, Kiyi backed up. Katara stepped forward quickly, uncapping her water skin. The rational part of Zuko’s brain might have known that Katara was going to try and help him, but the irrational part was in full control, and all that it could tell was that Katara could hurt him and in his panicked mind that translated to would hurt him. He scrambled backwards, until he hit the wall, drawing in on himself.

“Don’t do it like that! You’re scaring him!” Kiyi accused fiercely, pushing her aside.

“Why don’t you guys go wait in the kitchen? I’ll stay here with Kiyi.” Sokka suggested.

“Sokka, I don’t think-” Katara began, but Sokka cut her off.

“Katara, I need you to trust me just this once.” He insisted. Reluctantly, the others left. Sokka moved forward more slowly, less aggressively than Katara had and came to stand next to Kiyi, “I need you to trust me too; can you do that?” He asked her. Kiyi frowned.

“I’ll trust you, but you have’ta promise not to mess it up.” She told him.

“I can’t swear I’ll be perfect, but I promise I’ll do my best to help him.” Sokka assured her. Kiyi looked at him speculatively, sizing the much larger boy up.

“Okay, then I’ll trust you.” She told him.

“Thank You.” Sokka told her, “Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Yes, as long as it helps Zuko.” She informed him seriously.

“It will, I promise.” Sokka swore, “Does this happen to him often?”

“No, only when he has bad dreams. Scary dreams about before he started taking care of me.” Kiyi told him promptly.

“What usually helps him?” Sokka asked.

“It helps to talk, usually, ask him questions and tell him we’re safe. Don’t touch him, though, and don’t do anything scary.” Kiyi instructed.

“I won’t, don’t worry.” Sokka told her. He came over to Zuko next, slowly and cautiously, and sat down in front of him. Kiyi came and sat next to him.

“Hi, Zuko.” Sokka said calmly, “It’s okay, we’re all okay.”

Those words managed to pierce through the fog around his brain, somehow.

“I don’t… I don’t feel okay, Sokka.” Zuko replied, still struggling to breath.

“I know you’re not okay right, but you’re going to be, right Kiyi?”

“That’s right.” Kiyi agreed.

“O-okay.” Zuko agreed shakily.

“I need you to breath with me, Zuko, in and out, in and out.” Sokka told him, and Zuko obeyed, his breathing falling into the rhythm Sokka set. Eventually, his heartbeat returned to normal. All the while, he listened to the rise and fall of Sokka’s constant chatter. The world started to feel real again.

“I- I think I’m okay now.” Zuko said, slowly unfolding from his ball in the corner. His muscles had the familiar soreness that came on in the wake of these episodes.

“You sure?” asked Sokka, “Don’t feel like you have to rush.”

“Yea, I’m sure. Kiyi, can you go and tell everyone I’m okay?” Zuko sighed.

“I’m on it.” Kiyi promised, rushing out of the room.

“Where did you learn to do that?” asked Zuko, looking up at Sokka.

“Oh, I mean, it’s an old Water Tribe technique.” Sokka fumbled through the unconvincing lie.

“Really? Your sister didn’t know what she was doing, and she’s a healer.” Zuko replied, raising his eyebrows. Sokka flushed.

“I get panic attacks too, sometimes. After Mom died when I was ten… things were really bad. Dad and Gran-Gran were really broken up, and it took so long for them to start moving forward again. Me and Katara ended up picking up the slack, keeping things going while they grieved. It all just got to be too much sometimes. Katara, she was even younger than me, but she still carried all this weight in our family like it was nothing. I couldn’t do what she could, and I didn’t want her to know. So, I just… didn’t let her see.” Sokka admitted. Zuko gave him a hard look.

“Okay, wait, your mom died, and you, at age ten, were trying to take on the role that’s difficult for adults, and felt bad because the combination of trauma and stress got to you?” Zuko asked, raising his one remaining eyebrow.

“Well, when you put it like that it sounds unreasonable. _Katara_ was fine.” Sokka huffed.

“Katara is all of fourteen but acts like a mother to her friends and older brother, she’s not _fine_ she just deals with it differently.” Zuko told him

“When did you get so smart?” Sokka grumbled.

“I’m not, I just have some experience with blaming myself for being messed up by things that would mess anyone up.” Zuko snorted.

“Wait, aren’t I supposed to be comforting you here?” Sokka demanded.

“And you did a great job, now I’m just returning the favor.” Zuko told him, getting to his feet stiffly, “Now c’mon, we need to reassure the others that I’m still alive.”

“Alright, but when Aang fusses and gives you those concerned eyes and Katara goes full healer mode on you, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Sokka sighed theatrically as the got up too.

Sokka was, of course, completely right. Katara and Aang were both very worried and said so. Toph pretended not to be worried, but she didn’t leave and go back to bed either. In the end, it took everyone the better part of an hour to get calmed down and he barely managed to talk Katara out of going for his Uncle. Zuko sighed as finally returned to his own room. He felt better than he could ever remember feeling after a nightmare. This feeling was interrupted by Kiyi loudly dragging her bedroll in next to his.

“Kiyi, what in the four nations are you doing?” asked Zuko.

“I don’t like sleeping in my own room, I’m lonely and I don’t like that I can’t hear you very well.” Kiyi told him firmly. Zuko considered fighting against it, but in the end felt too tired, and too touched by the gesture, to refuse. So, in the end Kiyi snuggled in beside him on her own bed roll, and with his little sister’s steady breathing beside him he drifted back to sleep, strangely comforted by the knowledge that everyone in the house was so worried about him.

Zuko woke the next morning at dawn. Kiyi was already sitting up and yawning hugely when he opened his own eyes. Normally, the first few nights in a new spot Zuko had that split second of confusion before he remembered where he was. He realized as he looked over at his sister, he hadn’t felt that since coming here. He laughed as Kiyi dragged him to the kitchen, certain they were late for breakfast. The sun was barely in the sky but in Kiyi’s mind, this meant that they were very late.

Zuko was utterly shocked to find his Uncle already present, and in the process of preparing tea to go with the assortment of breakfast options he had brought from his shop. The others, unsurprisingly, were not awake yet, though Aang emerged a few minutes later, for once less than enthusiastically cheerful as he grumbled that the firebending training was making him a horrible morning person. Zuko helpfully pointed out that a morning person would look less like he wanted to murder someone, and for a brief moment Zuko wondered if he was going to be killed by the Avatar. The Avatar in question, however, seemed to think that it would require too much energy to murder him and slumped down at the table where Iroh helpfully pour him some tea. Now Uncle was a horrible morning person, the man must have woken up well before dawn and yet somehow still managed to be cheerful. No firebender should look that cheerful before the sun was fully in the sky, it was unnatural.

Despite Iroh’s disturbing perkiness, their morning meditation went smoothly, and by the time they were done Aang seemed more fully awake. The backyard was perfect for firebending practice, giving them plenty of space and high walls so no one would see them and get alarmed. Kiyi cheerfully insisted that they do some ‘real’ firebending, as she put it. Aang enthusiastically agreed, and so they ran through the basic katas while Zuko and Iroh watched and helped them improve their movements. Aang had gotten over his initial fear of fire and was, unsurprisingly, proving to be a prodigy at it. He still tended towards the side of caution but was slowly moving past it.

Kiyi meanwhile was younger but was proving to be nearly as fast a learner as the Avatar himself. She was far bolder than Aang, but still carefully precise. Zuko wasn’t about to inflict the same teaching methods he’d been educated with on her, but he also made sure she knew how important it was to be cautious. Unbidden, the words came back into his mind. _You will learn, and suffering will be your teacher._ Those words had haunted his nightmares for months afterwards. The images, the sounds the _smell,_ all so sharp and clear, as if he were reliving it. They still came back to him that vividly sometimes, like last night. Now though, in the light of day as he encouraged his little sister and Aang in their bending, Ozai felt far away and, for the first time Zuko could remember, those events felt like they had happened a long time ago.

By the time they had finished, the others were up and Iroh made tea again while the others ate breakfast. Breakfast was a slightly stilted affair, the group was going to part ways after this, all going their separate ways for a time, and Zuko could tell the others didn’t really know how to cope with this. Toph had never really had friends before, and for Sokka and Katara, their only experience with separation was their father and the other men of their tribe leaving and not coming back. Of course, that was still better that Aang, whose only experience with separation was the loss of the entirety of his people.

It was slightly unnerving to him that he was probably the least traumatized in this respect. In his experience, people came back. He’d gotten his mother back, at least for a while, and now his Uncle had found him too. Still, he really wasn’t equipped to make people feel better. Even so, he did his best to remind them that they’d all be together soon and arranged a specific place and time for them to reunite. This did seem to make the others feel better, but honestly, he was beginning to suspect that the only thing that would really make this easier is after this first separation of their group passed and they all managed to reunite successfully. Also, Kiyi was making it infinitely more difficult.

“You’re not leaving. I’m not going to let you.” Kiyi told them all flatly, trying to hide how worried she was behind a façade of stubbornness.

“Don’t worry, shorty, we’re coming back soon. Someone needs to make sure twinkle toes actually manages to kick firelord butt.” Toph said.

“What makes you think I can’t beat the Firelord right now?” asked Aang, clearly hurt.

“You mean aside from the fact that your twelve and a pacifist, right?” Toph shot back.

“You’re twelve too!” Aang protested.

“Yea, but Toph actually enjoys beating people up.” Kiyi pointed out.

“Damn straight!” Toph exclaimed.

“Toph!” Katara admonished before Zuko could.

“I’m sorry, I meant _dang_ straight.” Toph and Kiyi giggled together at this.

The broke up after breakfast while the others went to back. Uncle left to go back to the teashop, apparently the morning rush would be starting soon, and he needed to be there for it. He wished everyone goodbye and safe travels, and promised to stop by and visit Zuko, Kiyi and Sokka in the next few days. After he’d left, Sokka went to help Katara, and Kiyi went with Aang, apparently determined to cheer him up after she and Toph had teased him. Aang, being who he was, already seemed cheerful again. Zuko went out to train in the yard and was surprised when Toph followed him.

“Is something wrong, Toph?” Zuko asked, and Toph grinned slightly.

“I like you, Sparky, you’re always blunt. You don’t beat around the bush or sugarcoat thing.” Toph told him.

“Okay…” Zuko wasn’t sure what else to say.

“I need your advice. Or maybe your opinion. I don’t know. Just listen and then tell me what you think, I guess.”

“My Uncle is really better at advice.” Zuko told her.

“Yea, probably, but I’m asking you. You’re the one who actually managed to escape their fucked-up family.” Toph reasoned.

“Well, not so much escaped as was thrown out on the street by said family…” Zuko corrected.

“Eh, close enough.” Toph dismissed, “Anyway, you know how I’m going to see my mom today?” Zuko nodded, and Toph pushed onwards, “Well, she seems like she’s ready to accept me and my decision to leave to train Aang and everything. But at the same time, I’m just…”

“Worried?” Zuko suggested, and now it was Toph’s turn to simply nod. “I really wish I could tell you that it’ll be okay, that your parents will accept who you are because they love you and everything, but if you wanted rosy-eyed optimism you’d’ve gone to Aang, or maybe Katara. So, here’s the deal, I don’t know your parents, and I don’t know how they’ll feel about all of this. But I do know two things, if they really love you then eventually then they’ll come around, and if they don’t, then you know that you have a family here.”

“You know, that came out as pretty sappy and optimistic too.” Toph told him, punching him in the arm to cover up the emotion in her voice.

“I’m not sure if it’s sappy so much as faith in our friend’s relentless determination to make us all feel loved.” Zuko smirked.

“Please, your just as mushy as the others.” Toph teased him.

“Lies and slander.” Zuko told her, punching her on the arm.

“Thanks for the pep talk, Sparky.” Toph told him.

“No problem, not that you need it, you and I both know you’re the best earthbender in the world.” Zuko told her.

“In the world, ever.” Toph corrected him, then grinned, “Damn right I am.”

Toph left looking far more confident, and Zuko smiled softly to himself as he began his own practice, trying to burn off some of the nervous energy coursing through him. He knew the others were powerful, competent benders who would be fine on their own, but a tiny part of him worried slightly about staying behind with Sokka.

He remembered thinking that first day that Sokka was cute, and Toph’s words when they’d gone to rescue Kiyi stayed in his mind. Made him wonder if Sokka might think the same of him, despite… everything. But they hadn’t talked much since then and somehow their interactions had been slightly tense ever since. When Sokka had volunteered to stay behind, it had clinched it. Sokka might have been willing to trust him enough to train Aang, and to give them advice on the invasion, but obviously as he didn’t trust him to help them actually do any of the planning, or at least not without supervision. He tried not to let it upset him. It wasn’t the first time he’d misread someone, and it wouldn’t be the last. He’d just started to think that maybe… but it didn’t matter. Obviously Sokka was just being polite, they’d only spoken to each other away from the others a handful of times. At least he’d realized his mistake before he’d embarrassed himself.

Fortunately, practicing had the desired effect of driving all other thought from his mind as he focused all of his attention and energy on his bending. Homing in on his breathing, on the flow of his chi as he moved through his katas, first the formal ones and then the ones he’d half-invented while he traveled and then the ones he’d fully invented in order to fill in the gaps in his knowledge. By the time he was done the others were ready to head off.

“You all swear your gonna come back, right?” Kiyi said, glaring around at them all with a significant amount of skepticism. Zuko could suddenly see the striking resemblance to Azula. It was more than a little unsettling.

“I promise.” Aang told Kiyi hastily. Apparently, Kiyi was able to intimidate even the Avatar with the intensity of her look.

“Of course, we will, Kiyi.” Katara assured her, almost convincingly nonchalant enough that Zuko could believe she wasn’t intimidated by Kiyi. Well, almost. She was just a bit to tense to be fully natural.

“Yea, we promise.” Toph agreed, she alone seemed unphased.

Soon, after many, many goodbye hugs, some of which Zuko was somehow drawn into, Toph, Aang and Katara all piled on to Appa’s back. Aang had agreed to drop the other two off on his way to the monastary to meet up with a guru and learn… something avatar-ish. The others had tried to explain the Avatar state and why Aang wanted to be able to go into it at will, but it honestly didn’t sound like something you would want activated, like, ever to Zuko. Why on earth would you give up control while simultaneously ramping up all your powers in an incredibly dangerous situation already? It struck Zuko as a spectacularly bad idea. In his experience, losing control of your bending was a great way to get yourself the people around you hurt. He hadn’t said anything though, he’d cross that bridge only if it became necessary.

Once Appa was only a speck in the distance, Kiyi tugged on his sleeve insistently,

“I really think I need cake to make me feel better about the others leaving, Zuzu.” She told him, looking up at him with enormous polar-bear-puppy-dog eyes.

“Oooh, I vote for cake too!” exclaimed Sokka, adding his own sad eyes to the mix. Zuko ignored the part of him saying that Sokka had really pretty eyes and agreed to help them both make cake.

Or at least he would have. If they’d had any ingredient. Instead, they stood there staring in shock at the empty cupboard.

“Why in the name of the Spirits did they take the _milk_? It’s perishable, they can’t travel with it!” Sokka exclaimed.

“Toph.” Zuko replied with certainty.

“Oh, well, guess we have to go shopping.” Kiyi said with such off-handed casualness that Zuko suddenly wondered if someone had actually put Toph up to this.

“Yea, and it sure is lucky it’s market day in the lower ring, huh?” Zuko turned to eye her suspiciously.

“That way we can get what we need _and_ visit all our friends.” Kiyi agreed brightly, “I can’t wait to tell Jin about Aang and Toph and Katara and introduce her to Sokka and tell her all about Uncle and the teashop and…” Her voice became muffled as she rushed out of the room to grab her shoes.

“She’s been plotting against us, hasn’t she?” Sokka realized.

“She and Toph are going to be very dangerous together.” Zuko confirmed.

“That’s what I was afraid of.” Sokka sighed, moving to follow the viciously enthusiastic Kiyi.

Zuko tried to tell himself that Kiyi was not actually an evil mastermind, it was just a convenient coincidence that, with Appa gone, they would have to take the train, which Kiyi was rapidly falling in love with, down to the lower ring. Kiyi was practically vibrating with excitement at the idea and simultaneously giving him that excessively innocent look she only used when she’d just caused trouble, and was trying to convince him not to be mad at her. This really only served to convince his she had definitely planned for exactly this.

The train ride was quiet, with Kiyi staring avidly out the window while Zuko periodically reminded her not to actually lean out of the window on the moving train and Sokka tried to stifle his laugher. Despite Kiyi’s love of the train, she seemed just as excited to get off the train, racing off the moment the trained stopped. This forced Zuko to run after her, calling for her to slow down. Zuko felt his heart climb into his throat when he lost sight of her for nearly a full minute that felt like a hundred years. Finally, he caught sight of her waiting by the staircase down to the street.

“Kiyi! Thank the Spirits! Don’t run off like that, I almost lost you!” Zuko scolded her, holding out his had which she grumbled about but took. Kiyi, of course, was looked like he’d grown a second head for being worried about her.

“I’m _fine_ Zuzu.” She scoffed, “I was waiting for you.”

“But I didn’t know that. You know you’re supposed to hold my hand when we’re out in public, so I know where you are and that your safe.” Zuko reminded her.

“Oh.” Kiyi frowned, “I’m sorry for scaring you, Zuzu.”

“It’s okay, just stay close this time.” Zuko assured her and Kiyi nodded. It took them a minute to find Sokka, who had lost both of them in the crowds and was just as relieved as Zuko to see Kiyi safe and in one piece. This led Kiyi to hold both Zuko and Sokka’s hands (to make them feel better, she told them primly) as they walked together through the narrow roads of the Lower Ring.

They reached the market fairly quickly, and a few people said hi to Zuko and Kiyi, apparently relieved that they were okay after everything that had happened at the teashop. Zuko assured them they were, he’d just moved and gotten a new job… which wasn’t technically a lie and had the added advantage that it was what most people did after an incident like that occurred. No one paid much attention to Sokka, except for the cabbage merchant whose stall was set up near the entrance. The elderly man stared daggers at the Water Tribe boy as they passed by.

“Why does the cabbage guy look like he wants to kill you, Sokka?” asked Kiyi.

“No idea, maybe he’s got me confused for someone else?” Sokka shrugged.

“We should go find Jin then.” Said Kiyi, clearly bored by the answer Sokka had given. Living with the Avatar where literally every encounter had an exciting backstory was clearly making her spoiled.

Jin was ecstatic to see them. She grinned at them when they came up to her and did her best to hurry along the elderly couple currently dawdling in front of her.

“Hey, Li! Hey, Kiyi! It’s good to see you! I was kinda worried you were dead or brainwashed by faceless goons.” Jin told them, grinning.

“As if an army goon would be a match for Kiyi.” Sokka grinned back. “I’m Sokka, by the way, I’m a friend of Z- Li and Kiyi’s.” Zuko flinched at the slip, but Jin didn’t seem to notice.

“ _Gasp,_ you mean Li has friends other than me?” Jin clutched her chest in mock surprise. Then she grinned, “Nice to meet you, Sokka, I’m Jin.”

“You’re the worst.” Zuko groaned, which only made the others grin wider.

“Nah, you love me.” Jin told him. “So, I take it you need food?”

“Yea, someone intentionally got rid of all our food so we’d have to go shopping.” Sokka replied, turning to look pointedly at Kiyi.

“He’s lying, I had nothing to do with it. Katara acted alone.” Kiyi insisted.

“Wait, it was _Katara_? I’ve been betrayed by my own sister!” Sokka exclaimed in shock.

“Welcome to my world.” Zuko sighed. Jin meanwhile, suddenly looked very interested.

“So, you took being forced to leave your apartment as an opportunity to move in with your boyfriend. Good for you!” Jin exclaimed, “It’s so nice to meet you! I’ve been so curious, and Li is always so private.”

Zuko’s stood there gaping at her. In the week since he’d last seen her so much had happened that he had completely forgotten about Jin’s assumptions about his secret boyfriend. His only consolation for standing there staring at her like she’d grown a second head like an idiot was that Sokka was doing the exact same thing. If Zuko didn’t know better, he’d say that it looked like Sokka was blushing a little bit, too. Kiyi, however, had not been rendered speechless by this pronouncement.

“They’re not dating. They should be, right? Zuzu didn’t listen to me, but he always listens to you. Tell him, tell him he should go out with Sokka.” She told Jin.

“Kiyi!” Zuko protested.

“Doesn’t Zuko already have a boyfriend?” asked Jin, confused.

“No, he was sneaking out to help Sokka with a thing, but he didn’t wanna admit it.” Kiyi explained.

“Then yea, I agree with Kiyi, he seems funny and nice and he agreed to let you stay with him even though you’re not dating. Plus, you’re both blushing so clearly you like each other. You should definitely be asking him out now, Li.”

“Don’t we get a say in this?” protested Zuko, and Sokka made an indistinct noise of agreement.

“Not if you’re gonna be stupid about it.” Kiyi told them and Jin nodded in agreement.

“I get no respect around here.” Sokka sighed.

“Well, the only thing I know about you is that you tell dumb jokes and haven’t asked out my super cute and smart friend, why would I respect you?” asked Jin, handing Zuko a bag full of groceries.

“Okay, bye Jin, I’m just going to run before you embarrass me any further.” Zuko said, grabbing Kiyi’s hand and moving to walk away as she protested.

“You’ll be back. You’ll miss me.” Jin called after him, “Plus, you know I’m right.”

“She’s intense.” Sokka grinned, “I like her.”

“Me too, Jin’s great. Even if she is a bit … forward.” Zuko replied, and they exchanged a smile. Then suddenly Sokka’s face fell, he was looking at something over his shoulder.

“C’mon, over here.” Sokka whispered, dragging Zuko and Kiyi into the nearest ally way.

“What the hell, Sokka?” Zuko hissed at him as Sokka peered suspiciously around the corner.

“Is it the Dai Li, or the Fire Nation, or Ninja Assassins?” Kiyi whispered excitedly.

“No, it’s Jet. What the hell is he doing here?” muttered Sokka.

“Wait, Jet as in your jerk coworker, Jet?” Kiyi said, turning to Zuko.

“Wait, you know Jet? Jet worked in a teashop? I can’t believe I didn’t get to see that!” asked Sokka as Zuko peered around Sokka, looking at Jet. It was him, no doubt about it, quietly shopping like nothing was wrong.

“It’s kind of a long story, which this is not the time for.” Zuko whispered, “Because this brings up a bigger problem. The Dai Li are claiming that they don’t know where Long Feng put the prisoners from Lake Laogai, right?”

“Yea, that’s what the Earth King told us, anyway. Why?” Sokka replied.

“Because Jet was taken less that a day before Lake Laogai disappeared. If he’s here, acting normal and not, say, plotting revenge on those who’ve wronged him, then…”

“The Dai Li have brainwashed him.” Sokka realized, “Which means they’re still active.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have many loves in my life, chocolate, ALTA, writing cliffhanger endings for every last one of my chapters. I regret nothing (insert evil laugh here).

**Author's Note:**

> This should update every week on Sundays from here… hopefully. (tragically, I have a life outside of writing fanfiction that sometimes gets in the way)
> 
> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


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